North Allegheny reschedules virtual meeting on ‘in-person’ attendance for second time
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For the second time in as many days, the North Allegheny school board has rescheduled its planning meeting to consider a proposal to return to in-person instruction five days a week for children in kindergarten through 5th grade.
The board was originally scheduled to meet virtually Monday night but the session was canceled and moved to Tuesday evening to accommodate members of the community who are observing the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement.
The virtual meeting will now be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 5.
“The date change will allow North Allegheny administrators to share a detailed plan with the public of what five-days of in-person instruction will look like for students in grades K-5 and 6-8,” said Brandi Smith, a district spokeswoman.
The board is expected to discuss and possibly vote on recommendations made by the district’s administration for students in kindergarten through fifth grade to begin attending in-person instruction five days a week starting on Nov. 4.
The board also will consider a recommendation for five-day-a-week, in-person instruction for students in grades six through eight beginning Nov. 11.
District administrators have recommended that students in grade nine through 12 to continue attending classes using a so-called “hybrid model.”
Students will still be able to opt out of in-person instruction by choosing to attend classes through the district’s NA Cyber Academy.
If the board approves the administration’s requests, the district will begin re-enrolling students in either the in-person program or the cyber school beginning on Oct. 6.
Students who attend the cyber academy must commit to staying in the program for a full semester. To make it easier for them to transition back to an in-school environment, the program’s curriculum is aligned with the district’s in-person curriculum.
Under the hybrid model the district has used since the start of the school year on Sept. 8, students with last names beginning with “A to L” attend in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays and at home on Wednesdays using an online program of independent or “synchronous” learning.
The “A to L” group attends classes online with a teacher on Thursdays and Fridays.
Students with last names beginning with “M to Z” follow the same education plan but attend in-person classes on Thursday and Friday.
Wednesdays will be used to clean and sanitize buildings and allow teachers to schedule office hours to meet virtually with students and families.