Youngest Students to Lead Way Back Into Buildings Full Time

Many students in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District are headed back to full-time in-person school. Elementary school students will have this option starting Thursday, March 18, with middle and high school students to follow on Monday, April 12. School board members voted unanimously to approve the plans at Monday’s board meeting.

The brisk, 80-minute school board meeting stood in marked contrast to recent hours-long, often contentious sessions featuring pointed board member questions and heated comments from parents, teachers, and the occasional student. 

The board’s previous meeting, on February 22, set the stage for this quick move forward. That night, members voted to reduce distancing requirements for elementary students from 6 to 3 feet, starting March 12, if the seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate in the county or school district fell below 100 per 100,000 residents on or near March 5. Such a decrease in distancing is necessary to bring all the students who want full-time in-person instruction into buildings together.

As of March 5, the seven-day incidence rate in the school district was 56.98 per 100,000 people, according to the Chester County Health Department. For Delaware County as a whole, the rate was 103 per 100,000.

Under the district’s new health and safety plan, staff will still be required to stay 6 feet away from students and from each other. Students must maintain 6 feet of distance when unmasked, for instance when eating lunch or snack.

To give staff time to prepare schools for so many students, all elementary instruction will be asynchronous, with students learning independently, using materials provided by their teachers, between Monday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 17. 

Beginning March 18, elementary students will have 4½ days of weekly in-person instruction. Wednesday afternoons will continue with asynchronous learning through May 21. 

Starting May 24, in-person learning will expand to five full days. Director of Education Denise Citarelli Jones said this “will provide important momentum” toward fully in-person school, which is anticipated for the 2021-22 school year.

The overall timeline presented over Zoom at the School Board meeting.

Secondary School Plans

Strath Haven High School Principal Greg Hilden reported that at least 645 students are electing to return to full-time in-person school on April 12, according to a survey sent to families. This is an increase of 116 over the number currently using the hybrid, two-day-a-week in-person option. Four hundred and eighty will learn virtually in the school’s Online Academy. 

At the high school, “full-time” in-person school means four days of weekly in-person instruction. Wednesday mornings, students will learn remotely over Zoom, while school on Wednesday afternoons will be asynchronous. The schedule will switch to five full days in person on June 1, after standardized testing concludes.

Hilden reported that his staff is still calculating distances between student desks for all classes. At least 31 classes will be conducted with students closer than 6 feet apart, he said. 

Hilden pledged that all students will eat lunch at least 6 feet apart. He acknowledged the challenge of lunch-period logistics. The library may double as a cafeteria for students who bring lunch from home, and students may be divided into four lunch periods, rather than the usual three. “We’re working through various bell schedules,” Hilden said.

Middle school principal George King reported that 606 students are expected in the building on April 12, up from 563 now choosing the hybrid model. Twenty-two students are expected to switch from hybrid to the Online Academy. A total of 266 students are expected to opt for the Online Academy, down from the current 309.

At the middle school, like the high school, “full time” means four days of weekly in-person instruction, with students attending class on Zoom on Wednesday mornings and learning asynchronously on Wednesday afternoons. In-person instruction will expand to five full days on May 24, a week earlier than at the high school.

King reported that most student desks in middle school classrooms will be between 4 and 6 feet apart, although some will be separated by the minimum allowable distance of 3 feet. He added that students may occasionally need to “satellite in” to a classroom from a remote location in order to keep 3 feet of distance in every room. Those students would be rotated, he said, and he expects the need to be rare. 

Some middle schoolers will eat lunch in the gymnasium to maintain 6 feet of distance while students are unmasked. They will be seated alphabetically to facilitate any necessary contact tracing.

Teachers to Get Vaccine

Superintendent Lisa Palmer announced that district teachers are scheduled to begin receiving the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, March 11. The initial allotment of vaccine will be enough for all elementary teachers and staff seeking to receive it, Palmer said. She credited Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf for prioritizing educators and school staff for vaccinations.

A second round of vaccinations will begin at the end of March, Palmer said. That allocation is expected to be large enough for all staff who want it.

The next board meeting will be Monday, March 22, at 7 p.m., in the Strath Haven Middle School library, 200 S. Providence Road, Wallingford. If you prefer to watch at home, go to WSSD’s YouTube channel: swat.ink/wssd-youtube.