Baldwin-Whitehall School District moves to 4 days of in-person instruction

Baldwin-Whitehall School District is moving to a learning schedule that is reminiscent of pre-pandemic days.

Students there in kindergarten through fifth grade now have the option to receive four days of in-person instruction. Wednesday will be set aside for remote instruction.

Those students’ first day under the new model was Jan. 19.

“It felt like another first day of school,” said Superintendent Randal Lutz. He said it felt incredible and that though he couldn’t see toothy smiles under facemasks, he could see “eyes were smiling.”

Students in sixth through eighth grade were able to switch to the four-day model on Jan. 25, with the high school following on Feb. 1.

The option for students to receive instruction on a remote model continues, but the majority of the district’s population has opted for the new model, Lutz said.

“It’s 80-20 right now,” he said, referencing the ratio of students opting for in-person versus remote instruction. “And we’re eternally grateful to the 20% because if we didn’t have them willing to stay home, we wouldn’t be able to do this.”

Lutz said the challenges of keeping students in school four days a week are not in the classroom or academics – it’s in making sure social distancing is followed in the cafeteria and hallways.

“We’ve pushed cafeterias to their limits,” he said, adding that some schools have used gymnasiums to offer additional seating spaced six feet apart.

Lutz said Baldwin-Whitehall School District is among a few districts in the area that have been aggressive in moving to a model that involves more in-person learning. He said other districts that are following a similar model for elementary students include Elizabeth Forward, Montour, West Allegheny and Upper St. Clair.

“But it seems like we might be on the leading edge of the post-holiday return to school,” he said.

Baldwin-Whitehall, to his knowledge, is the only school district that plans to return to four days a week for students older than elementary age.

The move has not come without criticism, he said.

He acknowledged the fact that covid-19 cases continue to rise past levels present in September and October, when the district opted for a hybrid model where cohorts of students attended school twice per week.

“But we know more about the virus now,” he said. “And it’s not getting any better. Since we know more about how it spreads and how it doesn’t spread, we feel confident and comfortable with the plans in place … we need to be more aggressive.”

He said the school district will address positive cases as it has in the past: by communicating, cleaning and contact tracing. Lutz said if those “three Cs” can be done without closing school buildings down for more than three or 14 days – the recommended amount of time from the Pennsylvania Department of Education – they will reopen.

For example, McAnnulty Elementary closed for one Friday earlier this month because of some exposure to the virus. The superintendent said the school took that day and the weekend to communicate, clean and contact trace so it could reopen again the following Monday.

Since Sept. 2, when the district began contact tracing within the state and county rules, the district has had 696 incidents of covid-19. Lutz said those incidents include positive cases, tests and circumstances where people were placed under quarantine.

There have been 186 positive cases among staff, teachers and students, Lutz said. He said those numbers are good, considering the district employs 700 and enrolls 4,600 students.

The superintendent said success on the new model relies on a number of factors, the largest of which is the virus.

“Our inability to meet these targets will not be due to a lack of internal organization but rather will be due to circumstances of the spread of the virus largely outside of our control in our communities,” he said.

He also hopes the vaccine will be available to teachers soon – a growing frustration among teachers and administrators in Western Pennsylvania.