Charleroi approves hybrid, phased reopening strategy
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
The Charleroi Area school board unanimously approved a hybrid, phased reopening plan for the district Tuesday night.
Directors agreed with Superintendent Dr. Ed Zelich’s recommendation to begin the school year Sept. 8 in a yellow phase, which means students will be divided into two groups.
Students in Group A will attend school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays and have virtual instruction on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Students in Group B will have the opposite schedule.
All students will participate in online instruction on Fridays to allow teachers to prepare lessons for the following week and maintenance staff to deep clean the property.
Zelich announced his plans in a letter to district parents Monday and presented the details to school board directors at Tuesday’s meeting.
Parents can chose to enroll their children in the district’s online education program, which will be taught by district staff and will fall in line with what students work on in class.
Zelich said when school shut down in March, teachers, students and staff were thrust into a virtual learning model. While there were hiccups with the program, he said the new online learning model is efficient.
“We have worked on it, and the greatest thing about this is it will be Charleroi teachers delivering content,” Zelich said. “They know our students and our curriculum best.”
The Charleroi Area School District Education Foundation has donated 91 more Chromebooks, a $24,750 value, to the district for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
The computers will allow every student in the district to have the technology necessary to learn remotely.
Director Thomas Nutting has secured individual water bottles for each student. All fountains in the district have been retrofitted to fill bottles.
Zelich said he received a lot of support from parents after releasing his recommendation Monday.
“We understand this does not meet the needs of all of our all families or their beliefs,” Zelich said. “But as a team it is most important that everyone who comes to our campus is safe, and right now our buildings are not built for all of our students with 6-foot spaces between them.”
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