Study says hybrid option for return to school may be safest

When it’s time for schools to reopen, the approach administrators should consider is a mix of in-person and remote teaching, according to a study commissioned by the state Department of Education.

The hybrid education modeling simulates interactions among people such as teachers, students and bus drivers and determines what types of mitigation factors may help decrease the spread of covid-19 in various school settings.

The education department partnered with Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic at Mathematica on the study. Researchers incorporated “available data on infection spread and mitigation strategies (such as increasing physical distance or wearing masks), to predict the likely spread of disease in a community,” the report says.

“I’m thinking this is probably the most sophisticated return-to-school thinking that’s gone on anywhere that I know of,” Pitt-Johnstown Education Chair and former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak said.

He considers the study a positive tool for school districts to review and make sense of while developing health and safety plans.

Ultimately, the less time students spend in school, the less likely the virus will spread there, the study found.

The report outlined various options:

—The best approach to delay infections is to have students attend school in person one day per week with the remainder of school work done online researchers said.

—Dividing a student body in half and rotating attendance either two days per week or four days every two weeks is the next best plan, the study says. While one group is in the classroom, the other would be learning from home.

A system with students attending once a week pushes off infections significantly as compared to standard five-day in-class learning.

‘Some in-person’ classes

Although limiting attendance slows the spread of the virus, that doesn’t mean schools should switch to an online-only model, according to the research.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said when planning to return, school leaders should focus on “at least some in-person education for all students.”

The study shows that the online-only format can be detrimental to education. Based on various data in the study, the closure in the spring is expected to “lead to substantial learning loss” and possibly exacerbate existing inequities, the study says.

Zahorchak agreed that face-to-face education is important on a number of levels, including the students’ overall development.

He referenced studies that have examined cyber learning and concluded a year in that type of environment means losing a year of normal education.

“You really don’t want to do education by staying home with a computer,” he said.

Zahorchak said while a return to in-person schooling is complicated, he believes that with a slow approach and proper faculty and staff training in place, it will work and be worth the effort.

‘Student and staff safety’

The study also looked at how the virus has affected communities around the world, and how it’s spread — based on interviews with community members such as teachers, parents and administrators.

The interviews were conducted to gauge what concerns for the upcoming school year people have, and to gather feedback on the hybrid education modeling, said Adam Schott, a special assistant to Rivera.

Several concerns addressed were mitigation efforts, such as whether masks will be required — now they are mandatory for everyone when social distancing isn’t possible — and how school transportation would be affected.

Rivera said the information in the study shouldn’t require school’s health and safety plans to be reworked as long as the plans include community feedback, the implementation of social distancing and emphasis on evidence-based practices.

“The principle takeaway is that there are scenarios … that will allow for a school reopening that prioritizes student and staff safety while also providing for face-to-face instruction,” Schott said.

To read the full study, visit www.education.pa.gov and navigate to the reopening K-12 school guidance.