Steel Valley School District changes reopening plan

Students at Steel Valley School District can soon attend class in-person most of the week – but only for half the day.

The district unveiled an updated reopening plan this week, which will go into effect on Nov. 4. Students will be broken into groups for a hybrid model. One group will attend class in-person in the mornings Monday through Thursday, while the other will attend in-person in the afternoon. All students will have remote classes Friday mornings.

“As educators, we know that students learn best when they attend class in person and engage with highly-qualified teachers,” a letter to district families reads. “As the school year progresses, administration and staff have worked collaboratively to develop a hybrid class schedule. This targeted, phase-in approach is the best educational option that ensures the health and safety of our students and staff.”

The district did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Up to this point, Steel Valley School District has used a different hybrid model in which students attend school in person two days a week, followed by three days of remote learning.

Students also have the option for fully remote learning or enrollment in the district-run cyber academy – under the new system, all students over sixth grade who choose remote learning will be enrolled in the Steel Valley Cyber Program, according to the letter from the district.

The new plan was met with surprise on social media, with parents and students complaining about the unconventional course schedules during the in-person portions of the day. Posts of the official announcement gathered more than a hundred comments on Facebook – most of which were critical of the plan.

At Steel Valley High School, for example, the in-person sessions are broken into nine different class periods, each about 20 minutes long. Some worry this isn’t enough time for an effective lesson.

“I really don’t see how any of the kids could be absorbing or learning in that amount of time,” said Kandi Henderson, a parent in the district. “I just think it’s not a smart move.”

Henderson said the plan seemed rushed and unfeasible, especially for families with children across grade levels. She has five children ranging from third to 12th grade. If her family chooses the new hybrid plan, she said she’d have to drive her kids to different school buildings and pick them up only a few hours later, in the middle of the day – while they all operate on different schedules.

“That’s not feasible, especially if you have a working parent,” she said.

Henderson said her children have been using remote learning plans since the beginning of the school year, and will likely continue – but she and her older children are not pleased at the prospect of using the cyber academy, which she said offers less synchronous instruction time.

An FAQ page on the district website says the new plan will offer a greater total of in-person learning time, as well as four continuous days to “reacclimate” to the school environment. There are also variances in the student schedules, the FAQ says, that allows for longer class times at certain points in the week for high school students.

“In the elementary schools, classes in ELA and Math are at least 2 blocks of scheduled time for a total of 42 minutes minimum,” the page reads. “In the middle school, ELA and Math are in 2 periods of 21 minutes each. In the high school, most math and science classes have lab periods every other day so students will receive 42 minutes of instruction on those days.”

According to the district’s letter, administrators will evaluate the new plan on Nov. 25 and make adjustments as necessary.