Shen. Valley approves school reopening plan
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Shenandoah Valley Superintendent Brian Waite speaks during his Superintendent's Report on August 6, 2020.
SHENANDOAH – The Shenandoah Valley School Board approved the 2020 school reopening plan Thursday night.
“The district would come back in a hybrid-mode educational model,” Superintendent Brian Waite told the board in his report. “We’re looking then to evaluate how we’re doing in our opening, with the potential of going to face-to-face as the year progresses.”
“We’ll be ready to pivot either way if we need to go to full face-to-face or full virtual learning once we open under the hybrid plan,” Waite said.
The board approved the plan unanimously.
School Board President Dan Salvadore thanked Waite and the administration team for preparing the plan.
“We feel very confident that we will give the best education that we possibly can,” Salvadore said of the plan.
Also approved at the meeting last night was a calendar adjustment. Instead of starting on August 26, the new school year will start on August 31, Waite said, providing professional development days in the interim.
In addition, the board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Shenandoah Valley Education Association, which Waite said pertains to earlier arrival times for elementary faculty.
Waite shared some details of the reopening plan with media members following the meeting.
“Our goal was to try to get as many of the elementary kids in as often as we could, and keep our class sizes small for social distancing,” Waite said. “We were able to, within our hybrid model plan, get 4K [Pre-K] through 3 in every day, with some staggered starts for the students in those grade levels.”
“Grades 4 through 8 will come in in am/pm sessions, so that splits the class sizes down so you have half of the fourth graders in the morning, for example, and half in the afternoon, all the way up until eighth grade,” Waite said. “Our ninth and tenth graders will come in two days a week and be online for three, and our eleventh and twelfth graders will come in for one full day on Fridays.”
The ninth and tenth graders, he added, will also be on an am/pm cycle.
The school board also approved the purchase of WiFi Hotspots, which could be used to help students in need.
“We haven’t had a really good response from surveys about who actually needs devices and who needs connectivity, so that’s one of our concerns, should we turn virtual again” Waite said.
The full health and safety plan will be posted to the school’s website at www.svbluedevils.org tomorrow, Waite said, and will be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for approval.
Earlier this week, a presentation regarding the reopening plan was posted to the school website.
In it, Waite said that face coverings will be required on school transportation, in classes, and in hallways, as per state mandates, though some exceptions exist, including a documented medical condition, or if social distancing is observed at desks, work spaces, or when the student is eating or drinking.
Waite said in the presentation that Shenandoah Valley Elementary will have class sizes small enough to allow social distancing, as well as many of the junior high classes.
Also on the elementary side, the teacher will move from class-to-class, not the students.
Regarding transportation, buses will be filled at approximately half capacity and members of the same household will sit together. Riders will be encouraged to social distance at bus stops, and will be required to wear a mask on board and face forward for the duration of the route.
Staff members will have their temperature checked prior to entry, and additional cleaning will be undertaken throughout the day, among other protocols, according to the presentation.
The full presentation can be viewed here:
In other business, the school board:
- Approved the resignation of Jamie Walker, secondary math teacher;
- Approved the hiring of Jordan Marlow, secondary math teacher, at a salary of $38,451;
- Approved the resignation of Kevin Keating, secondary English teacher with a 60-day hold until Sept. 18, 2020;
- Approved the hiring of Kelly Sajone, secondary English teacher, at a salary of $54,191;
- Approved a sports medicine services and sponsorship agreement between St. Luke’s University Health Network and the school district for a five year period;
- Approved all cheerleading stipends be split equally between Ashley Dudash and Dawn Bench;
Approved hiring Frank Blozowski as a van driver, pending receipt of clearances.
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