McKeesport Area to vote on health and safety plan next week

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

McKeesport Area School Board will vote next week on the 2021-22 district health and safety plan.

The American Rescue Plan Act requires each school district receiving funding under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to develop and make publicly available a health and safety plan.

The board barely discussed what the health and safety plan will entail during Wednesday’s brief workshop meeting, with Superintendent Dr. Mark Holtzman Jr. saying he planned to release details after the plan is passed by the board.

Asked by Board Director Mindy Sturgess how families and students will be notified of what is expected of them from the plan, Holtzman said they will be notified through mailers and that the district is considering releasing a video that will “kind of talk about what’s in the plan and what direction we’re heading in.”

Guidance for school districts on whether to masks for the 2021-22 school year hasn’t been handed down by the state. The departments of health and education have encouraged schools to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recently, the CDC reversed a previous recommendation and is now recommending universal masking indoors for areas with high coronavirus case numbers, and recommends indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Thursday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.