North Penn Considering Metrics For When To Reopen Schools

LANSDALE, PA — The North Penn School District is debating what it will take to reopen schools to in-person instruction. The issue comes to the forefront as more than a thousand people signed a petition urging the school board to return to classes immediately.

In a school board action meeting held Thursday evening, officials addressed issues like community metrics, contact tracing, and more, as they faced increased pressure from those in the school community dissatisfied with the online learning model. No final decisions were made as they continue to investigate and consider various reopening scenarios.

The Change.org petition had been signed by more than 1,040 individuals as of Friday afternoon. Specifically, it asks the district to move forward with the reopening plan originally discussed back during a July 30 meeting. At the time, North Penn, like many other local school districts, had considered offering multiple options to students and families, including an in-person, online, and "hybrid" education model.

For all the municipalities in the North Penn area, the incident rate per 100,000 residents has been 24.8, 33.73 and 30.75 over the past three weeks, the school board said Thursday. The positivity rate on tests, meanwhile, has been 2.61, 3.38, and 3.37 percent. Those numbers are similar to county averages, and are lower than they were on July 30.

They're also not expected to decrease anytime soon, as Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh has repeatedly noted "there is no getting to zero," so it's unclear to what extent they'll be utilized as a reopening barometer.

"The numbers are probably about as good as they're going to get," North Penn Superintendent Curtis Dietrich said Thursday. "Especially as we approach colder weather, and more people moving indoors."

The positivity rate is in the "lower" risk category, and incidence rate is in the "moderate" risk category.

Another issue noted by petitioners which has changed since North Penn made the decision to begin the school year fully online: Montgomery County now has a new lab partnership which has vastly improved the turnaround time for coronavirus test results. While tests were lagging and taking weeks for some residents to get results back, the new lab has been returning results to residents in less than 48 hours.

"That played heavily into our decision," board member Cathy Wesley said during the recent meeting, referencing the testing delays which, for a time, made contact tracing all but impossible. "The landscape is much different (now), and that data does provide us the opportunity to make different decisions sooner."

Online classes have been met with mixed responses since the fully virtual start. In a Patch survey of district parents, some took issue with the technology being used by the district, while others said it was just not a practical environment in which children could learn.

>>'Ups And Downs' As North Penn Begins 2020 School Year With Online Classes

Superintendent Curtis Dietrich acknowledged last week there had been "ups and downs," though he remained optimistic.

"We know that we will need to continue to monitor and adjust as online learning continues," he said. "But I know one thing for sure. Everyone is working really hard, from our teachers, support staff and administrators to our students to our parents, and I am so grateful. Our goal, as it has always been, is to return to in school learning as soon as we are able."

Petitioners asked that North Penn publicize the statistics they were monitoring to determine when students would be allowed to return. Greater transparency and communication from the board was a theme echoed by local residents who made public comments during the early part of the meeting.

"If there are any remaining metrics that have not been met, we request the Board of Directors publish those metrics as well as their targets so the North Penn Community can have visibility and transparency into the situation and make decisions for their families accordingly," the petition reads. "We request that this dashboard be communicated on a weekly basis to North Penn families."

As for exactly when reopening will happen, it remains unclear. The district had originally planned on revisiting the question in November. The board is continuing to work with the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, and they have assembled a "return to in-person instruction work group" made up of administrators, teachers, and support staff which is ironing out the details.

Once the decision is made to reopen, and a date selected, officials say they'll need at least three weeks advance notice before they can open in order to make the necessary preparations.

Reopening options include a hybrid option where certain students come in on designated days, and attend school online on other days, in order to keep the density low inside schools. Another option is splitting it between morning and afternoon classes.

The next school board meeting action meeting is set for Oct. 15. A work session meeting will be held Oct. 6.