BVA accelerates back-to-class plan

By Christine Haines

chaines@yourmvi.com

The Belle Vernon Area School Board adopted an updated COVID-19 plan Monday that will have all students back in school five days a week starting Nov. 2.

The vote came after a 45-minute presentation at a town hall meeting, followed by more than an hour of public comment. The district had prepared to host as many as 100 people at the high school auditorium, but less than a third of that total actually attended the meeting. Another 148 people attended via Zoom, according to board president Joe Grata.

District administrators outlined a plan that brings students attending the career technical schools plus those in kindergarten and first grade, eighth grade and 12th grade back four days a week starting Oct. 5. The next group of students, those in grades 2, 3, 7, 10 and 11 return four days a week Oct. 19, and the remaining students in grades 4, 5, 6 and 9, along with all other students, will return to school five days a week as of Nov. 2.

The board voted 7-2 in support of the accelerated reopening plan, with directors Michelle Callaway-Rodriguez and Justin Kosanko opposing it.

“I’m going to support 95% of my constituents,” Kosanko said in casting his vote.

At the start of the meeting, Kosanko read a prepared statement in which he talked about his experiences as a parent of two elementary students and responses he received from other parents on social media asking for a return to school full-time.

“I’m dealing with what every single person who reached out to me is dealing with, they are breaking down due to a failure of our state and our school,” Kosanko said.

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