Spring-Ford to Return to In-Person Classes Feb. 4

For the families who want it, Spring-Ford's upper grades will return to in-person education four days a week starting Feb. 4.

The decision was unanimous and made last night by the school board during a special meeting called to consider the question.

Robert Rizzo, Spring-Ford's assistant superintendent, outlined the results of a survey sent out district families -- a survey to which just over 46 percent responded. 

The results showed that a majority would prefer the four-day option, even though the six-foot social distance could not be guaranteed in all classrooms, and definitely not in the hallways.

From grades 7 through 12, the clear favorite was a four-day in-person model with Wednesday remaining the virtual on-line day. The second favorite in the survey was all-virtual.

And that is what the district will offer, eliminating its two-day in, three-days-our hybrid model, which has seen participation dwindle in recent months.

"The data tells us we can do it safely," Rizzo said.

To make it work, Rizzo said, the district will need families to make a commitment to staying in virtual, or to moving to the new model. Knowing how many students are coming in each grade will help the district calculate the space requirements in the classrooms.

In some of those classrooms, Rizzo said, preliminary calculations indicate less than the six feet of social distance recommended by public health experts.

"We can fit 64 percent (of the student population) in a building and in most cases, social distancing would be about five feet," he said.

Spring-Ford School Board member Margaret Wright.

School Board member Margaret Wright was cautious in her support.

"I don't want to move forward with this if it means we have to go back," Wright said, noting it would be more disruptive to keep going back and forth. Only wants to do it "if we can do it successfully."

"I take comfort in the data," said Rizzo, adding that he is less worried about in-school transmission of the virus than about students being excluded from school.

School board member Clinton Jackson worried about not hearing directly from the nursing staff before voting.

Last week, school nurse Trish Smith expressed concerns about the difficulties of managing contact tracing with more potential contacts in the buildings.

Rizzo said they nursing staff had not watched his presentation, but he heard from Smith later in the meeting that, not having seen the presentation, she still has concerns.

Rizzo said more staff will have to be assigned to help with contact tracing as a result of the board's decision.

As the meeting wound down, resident Kate Doyle thanked the district for being "conservative" with its decisions to close elementary school buildings when there are too many positive cases, and warned that the more contagious version of COVID-19 is now in the U.S. and may require a return to virtual.

Click here to see the Tweets from the meeting.