Deer Lakes students to tentatively return to full-time, in-person instruction in November

After strong demand from parents, the Deer Lakes School District on Tuesday voted to reinstate full-time, in-person learning.

Students will be able to return to school full-time tentatively starting Nov. 9.

“I’m begging you as our leaders to please, please think hard and get these kids back in the school and let them be happy and thriving and (get) good grades,” parent Sandy Koski pleaded before the vote.

Officials said hybrid and fully online learning will remain available for students and parents not comfortable with going back to school full time.

The original back-to-school plan gave students the choice between hybrid and fully online learning. Students who chose hybrid attend school twice a week and learn remotely the remaining three days.

Some parents told board members hybrid isn’t working for their children, especially one’s with Individualized Education Programs. They need to be in school with their teachers full time.

They did not seem phased by the fact two district staffers recently tested positive for covid-19, or the fact the district cannot guarantee social distancing if students return full time.

“We keep kicking the can. ‘Next nine weeks, next month we’ll talk about it. It’s not the time,’” parent Dawn Knight said. “Are we waiting for a vaccine? Are we waiting for no cases? That’s not going to happen for quite some time.”

District spokeswoman Coby Detar said the return to in-person learning will be a gradual process.

One day of the tentative start week, Nov. 11, is a faculty and staff development day. That means students won’t attend classes that day.

So there will only be four days of instruction the first week students return to full-time, in-person classes, Detar said.

The change passed 5-4, with board members Vic Laurenza, Kristi Minnick, Sam Smallwood, Louis Buck and Bill Lupone voting yes, and board members Larry Neidig, Eric Bieniek, Cristy McCloskey and Phillip Ziendarski voting no.

Neidig said reopening the schools full time is going against guidelines recommended by federal, state and local health officials.

Neidig said the president of the teachers union and the paraprofessionals president told the district hybrid is the best option at this time. A petition mounted by a Deer Lakes senior to keep hybrid learning had more than 200 signatures before the meeting, he added.

“Just to be clear: a vote for this five days right now is a vote against all of those professionals,” Neidig said.

Minnick told parents this was not a rush decision — it is something the district has been tirelessly working on.

Minnick shared data provided by the Allegheny County Health Department, which showed that a majority of recent covid-19 cases were connected to hybrid or fully online learning. Not full-time, in-person learning.

“We purposely, as a school district, took the very cautious approach at the beginning, when some schools in neighboring counties did go five days a week in-person right away,” Minnick said.

Not all parents were in favor of returning to full-time, in-person instruction.

Dawn Wyble, a nurse, said safety should be prioritized over education at this time because there’s a lot people still don’t know about covid-19.

“We’re in the midst of a pandemic of a virus that we lack knowledge on,” Wyble said. “I just don’t believe bringing the children back to class five days a week is the best course of action at this time.”

Parent Brett Adams also had concerns. He said it scares him to send his children back to school five days a week, especially with the busy holiday season approaching.

“My biggest concern, really, is their health and safety,” Adams said. “This feels like a very rash and emotional decision at this point.”