Norwin students criticize return to full-time in-school instruction

Norwin’s plan to have students return to school five days a week beginning Friday was panned by eight high school students Monday, who claimed they are being made to choose between their health and their education.

The students say social distancing is not possible in the high school, and not all students are wearing masks or wearing them properly.

Douglas Samber, a junior, said it would be better to wait to bring back students rather than have them choose between safety and in-class instruction. He said student safety must be of the “utmost importance.”

Norwin’s high school students were instructed in a hybrid manner — two days of in-school instruction and three days of virtual learning — from the start of school in August until Feb. 22, when seniors were permitted to have four days of in-school instruction. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade were given the chance to return to school four days a week Feb. 15.

Students in grades five through 11 will receive hybrid instruction until Friday.

Superintendent Jeff Taylor said the majority of parents who completed a recent survey want their children to return to school five days a week. Parents were informed students returning to the high school five days would not be able to maintain social distancing of six feet, Taylor said.

“That is not possible,” Taylor said.

Samuel Taleff, student representative to the school board, pointed out there is a “huge cluster” of students at the main entrance waiting for dismissal at the end of the day. There is little social distancing in the line of students waiting at lunchtime, where students “quite literally are packed like sardines,” Taleff said.

Some students are not wearing masks in school, while others are not wearing masks properly, Taleff said.

Taylor said the district will address those concerns and enforce the mask-wearing. He noted the state health department issued guidance Monday that students are to wear masks in class.

The decision to fully reopen the district was made when the rate of covid transmission in Westmoreland County dropped, Taylor said. The district stopped all in-school instruction when transmission rates were high in December.

All teachers will have the opportunity to receive the Johnson & Johnson covid vaccine this week though the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, Taylor said.