BVA eyes Feb. 8 for full-time return to class
By Christine Haines
chaines@yourmvi.com
The Belle Vernon Area School District has a detailed plan to bring students back to school buildings full time by the second week of February, but the administration is calling on parents to cooperate to make the plan work.
“I’m not asking anyone to do anything other than please follow the guidelines,” said Superintendent Dr. Michele Dowell. “Please do not just state they have a cold and send them to school. We have to do everything we can to keep everyone safe and to stop the spread of this.”
Those guidelines include wearing a mask and staying home not only if the child has symptoms, but if they have been around someone who has tested positive. Dowell said that with the remote option available, there is no reason to send a child to school with any symptoms.
“In this day and age, you can’t assume it’s just a cold. They can do online learning,” Dowell said. “It’s not like in the past when if they missed school they just got the work to make up.”
The phased return to the classrooms calls for students to go back to school on the hybrid model next week. Students are off school Monday. Students whose last names start with A-K will attend classes in person Jan. 19, and students with last names starting with L-Z will attend in person Jan. 21 and 22. All students will attend virtually Jan. 20.
During the week of Jan. 25, students in grades K-3, 7, 9 and 12 will attend four days a week in person: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Students in grades 4-6, 8, 10 and 11 will have hybrid classes, with A-K Monday and Tuesday and L-Z Thursday and Friday. All students will attend remote classes Wednesday.
In the week of Feb. 1, all students will attend four days in person — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday — with remote instruction Wednesday. All students are scheduled to return to in-person classes five days a week the week of Feb. 8.
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