First day back: Burrell offers extra support to students and Chromebooks for all

The first day of school for the Burrell School District on Wednesday got off to a soggy start with flash flooding impacting the region.

While some buses were rerouted because of flooded intersections, the students still made it to school, Superintendent Shannon Wagner said.

“It is amazing to have our kids back at school in-person,” Wagner said.

This year, about 96% of Burrell’s 1,845 students chose to attend in-person, while the rest are taking classes remotely, she said.

Students were given the choice of whether to wear masks, but that changed quickly.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday that masks will be required for all school staff and students across the state because of increased cases of the highly transmissible delta variant of covid-19. All Burrell students will have to wear masks starting Wednesday, Sept. 7, Wagner said.

Students can expect more support from district teachers and staff this year because of $2.3 million from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, known as ESSER.

The pandemic relief money is paying for all students in the district to have Chromebooks for use in district buildings and at home. The funds also were used for a new full-time social worker and a student counselor.

An important new initiative this year is pulling four experienced teachers and embedding them in classrooms to help other teachers boost their professional development, Wagner said.

“The extra money for these programs wraps around the kids for us to better see what they need,” Wagner said.

Teachers will focus on how well students are learning and how to best respond when they are not learning. The goal is to know the students by name and by need, Wagner said.

“We now have extra people in place to better support the education of Burrell students,” she said.

Burrell’s first home football game against Indiana, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, will be fully open to the public.