Dear Norwin Families and Community Members,
I am writing to provide some additional information regarding the Reopening of Schools plan, which Norwin School District shared with families via email last week.
The District has received a number of emails and phone calls regarding the plan. While the majority of emails and phone calls I received have been positive and supportive of the District’s Reopening of Schools plan, others have expressed concern focused on a few common themes. I want to take this opportunity to provide additional information in response.
Before I begin, please know that I am also the father of an 11-year-old, and I completely understand the struggles that many of you have and the concerns that you have shared as parents. Therefore, I completely understand that our Hybrid Operational Model may be a challenge for some parents due to their work commitments and childcare concerns. I can assure you that this fact weighed heavily on the District while we deliberated the various operational models for reopening schools.
No one wants to live and work during a global pandemic. The District wants nothing more than to be able to return to a traditional five-day school schedule for our students. We acknowledge that a traditional five-day school schedule is the most desirable schedule for everyone.
Had you asked me at the end of June if I thought we would be going back to school in a traditional five-day per week schedule, I would have said yes at that point. However, once the Governor announced the Order that requires everyone to wear masks and socially distance as of July 1st, everything changed for us.
As indicated in the June parent survey data, the majority of parents were in agreement with students wearing face coverings in order to return to school; however, a common concern in the open-ended comments was with students needing to wear face coverings all day long. Therefore, the only way we could accommodate this parent feedback was to try and find a way to provide six feet of social distance between students. This would allow them to remove their face coverings for longer periods of time. As a result, the District felt that starting school in a Hybrid Operational Model would address the parents’ concerns for having students wear face coverings for the majority of the day.
The District took a lot of time to analyze expected class sizes and then identify the square footage needed in our classrooms and cafeterias in order to provide six feet of social distance. Unfortunately, we do not have enough square footage in the overwhelming majority of our classrooms and cafeterias to provide the required six feet of social distancing. However, by implementing our Hybrid Operational Model, which reduces the number of students in classrooms, we are able to provide the six feet of social distancing needed so that students do not have to wear a face covering all day long for hours at a time.
Full-Time Online Learning:
As you may be aware, a number of Pennsylvania school districts, colleges, and universities have already announced that they are starting the school year with 100% online instruction. Although this option was considered, our Reopening of Schools Leadership committee felt that it was important that we provide opportunities for in-person instruction while adhering to the state mandates for face coverings and social distancing. Therefore, we believe that a Hybrid Operational Model that provides some in-person instruction is better than going 100% online with no in-person instruction.
Synchronous Online Learning:
I am aware that a number of parents would like the District to provide live, synchronous instruction for all students while they are on remote learning days during the Hybrid Operational Model. I acknowledge that a few other western Pennsylvania school districts are offering live, synchronous online learning. Unfortunately, for Norwin, there are a number of obstacles preventing us from doing so. While there are several obstacles to providing synchronous instruction such as: (1) the delivery of instruction to two groups of students (those at home and in the classroom) simultaneously; (2) the requirement for students to be online at specific times for online lessons, and (3) the potential for student/family privacy concerns, I would like to share that our primary obstacle is technology related.
The District would like to offer a live, synchronous learning option for all students. However, the bandwidth required to do so would exceed what our underground fiber lines can handle. In simple terms, the fiber lines (network lines) that are installed underground to some of our schools do not have ample levels of Internet/networking bandwidth or throughput for live streaming from 325+ teachers simultaneously. Through the state’s required competitive bidding process, the District advertised bids late last spring to upgrade our fiber lines over the summer. Unfortunately, not a single company submitted a bid to do the work. Therefore, at the current moment, we are limited in the amount of live streaming of classes that we can accommodate. However, we are currently working with some local business partners in order to explore the possibility of leasing bandwidth for our schools to increase our live streaming capabilities.
Possible Legal Liabilities:
Currently, because Pennsylvania school districts do not have any protections from legal liability if it is determined that someone contracts COVID-19 while in a school district, the District selected a Hybrid Operational Model to begin the school year. As per the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA):
“The National School Boards Association (NSBA), along with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and Association for Educational Service Agencies (AESA), sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting that they include temporary and targeted liability relief for school districts within the next round of COVID-19 aid legislation. Congressional lawmakers have been considering whether to include liability protections for employers and postsecondary institutions. As the issue of reopening schools takes further prominence in these debates, similar liability protections will be crucial for public school districts, one of the nation's largest employers, to ensure state, school, and district leaders can reopen safely later this year and implement necessary protocols to protect students and staff. At the state level, PSBA has been working with legislators in the General Assembly to introduce a proposal in both the House and Senate that would provide liability protections for school districts during the pandemic.” (source: https://www.psba.org/2020/07/psba-supports-targeted-liability-coverage-during-pandemic/)
With the current face covering and social orders in place, a Hybrid Operational Model demonstrates that the District is taking extra precautions to limit our legal liability.
Concluding Statement:
Above all else, our primary responsibility is to ensure our students and employees are safe and healthy while in school to the best of our ability. Our Hybrid Operational Model provides an extra layer of protection for our students, employees, and families by only having approximately 50% of the students in the buildings. Much like the current occupancy restrictions on restaurants, bars, and other businesses, limiting the occupancy of our buildings increases our ability for students and employees to socially distance while decreasing the chances of spreading the COVID-19 virus.
After we receive definitive numbers about how many students will be enrolled in the Norwin Online Academy, if we find that 50% or more of our students would like a fully online instructional model, I have every intention of transitioning to a five-day, in-person operational model for the families who do not wish to be fully online.
Thank you for your time, attention, and concern regarding the Reopening of Schools. The District will continue to keep families updated with new developments, as this is a constantly evolving plan.
Best regards,
Dr. Jeff Taylor
Superintendent
