North Hills school board votes to approve switch to ‘hybrid’ instruction
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The North Hills school board has approved a “hybrid” instructional plan that will allow students to attend classes in person two days a week beginning Oct. 5.
The board voted 6-2 to approve the superintendent’s recommendation to switch from online-only instruction that has been used since classes resumed Aug. 31 to a blend of online and in-school attendance.
School board President Allison Mathis and board members Dee Spade, Sandra Kozera, Phil Little, Kathryn Poniatowski and Rachael Rennebeck voted to approve the change.
School Directors Deanna Philpott and Kathy Reid voted against the measure. Annette Nolish, who is recovering from surgery, was absent from the Sept. 17 meeting.
Superintendent Pat Mannarino said the “incredible job” the district’s teachers have done with online-only instruction “is making the decision to change our operational model to hybrid a very difficult decision.”
“But we all agree that the best place for our children to receive their education is in person, face to face,” he said. “And I’m optimistic that we, as a community, can move forward to a hybrid model on Oct. 5 and eventually a blended model and, hopefully, to a full traditional model by the end of this school year.”
The superintendent acknowledged that the switch “will not be easy.”
“There will be some hiccups,” he said. “This model is new to us all, but we will work through any and all issues that arise and we will make this model great.”
Reid said she voted against the change because “it is too soon to change the instructional model.”
“I think we’re moving a little bit early on this,” she said. “I would hate to see us change, go to the hybrid, and then all of a sudden have to go back to virtual.
“We need to keep these students on one path. I’d like nothing better than to have the kids back in school, but I want them all back in school, just not a few,” Reid said.
Under the hybrid model, students will attend school two days in-person and three days online.
Children with last names beginning with “A to L” will attend in-person on Mondays and Tuesdays and virtually for the remainder of the week. Students with last names beginning with M to Z will attend classes online Monday through Wednesday and in person on Thursdays and Fridays.
Parents also can choose to continue their child’s education online if they are uncomfortable with in-person instruction.
Mannarino was firm on the need for staff and students to wear protective coverings both in and out of school.
“It’s masks on or shields at all times. That’s it, it’s that simple,” he said. “Masks on or get out. I don’t mean to be that way, but that’s the way it’s going to have to be … until we hear differently.”
The superintendent also stressed the importance of taking precautions while outside school buildings to reduce the chances of spreading coronavirus.
“We’ve got to be wise about what we do outside school because it’s the things that happen outside school that are going to get us shut down,” he said.
The state does not require that a school building be closed if only one student or staff member tests positive for covid-19.
If two to four people in a building test positive, the building must be shut down for five to seven days.
Five of more cases in a building will result in a 14-day shutdown.
Students will revert back to online instruction if a building has to be temporarily closed, the superintendent said.
The district will continue to provide free “grab-and-go” meals through Dec. 31 in the cafeterias when students are in the buildings as well as curbside pickup on virtual learning days.
A covid-19 tracker also has been launched on its website to monitor active cases in the district, by building, along with cases that have been cleared by the state health department.