Bethel Park scraps full in-person learning, leaning toward some in-school days, some days online

Three weeks before school is scheduled to start, the Bethel Park School Board is changing course on how it will reopen to students and teachers.

It’s scrapping its plan for a full return to the classroom. The board expects to decide on a different plan Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to school board President Pamela Dobos.

Dobos said Tuesday night that the board is leaning toward a blended model, where alternating groups of students would go to school for in-person instruction for part of the week. When not in school, the students would engage in online learning.

The board decided July 28, in an 8-1 vote, to return to in-person instruction. The district’s online academy was offered as an option for those uncomfortable or unable to attend in person.

The first day of school is Wednesday, Aug. 26. In a plan published to its website, the district would have required students to wear masks and maintain 6 feet between people.

“Since then, cases have increased,” Dobos said Tuesday evening.

Dobos said the board’s change of plans were influenced by concerns that going back to in-person instruction would make it impossible to stay 6 feet apart in classrooms and on buses.

Dobos said the decision was also influenced by comments made Monday by Gov. Tom Wolf that seemed to suggest sports should be canceled if schools choose totally remote learning.

She also said that the board was influenced by other school districts deciding for a blended learning model. Gateway School District chose such blended learning.

Interim Superintendent Joseph Dimperio was originally slated to present to the public a more detailed plan of the original in-person reopening model on Tuesday. Instead, Dobos announced the school district is changing plans.

She said the board received several emails with “constructive criticism.”

Dobos said about 80% of the school district’s population had decided to return to in-person instruction.

However, the majority of residents who submitted comments recently were against the board’s original plan to bring students and teachers back in full. Two were in favor of the board’s original plan.