Where Montgomery Co. Schools Stand On Reopening In-Person Classes

SOUDERTON, PA — As Montgomery County continues to see an improvement in coronavirus metrics, most schools in Souderton School District returned to offering in-person instruction on Tuesday. Meanwhile, many other districts around the county continue to take a more cautious tack.

The school district is one of the first in Montgomery County to return full time after beginning the year on a hybrid schedule, with some students choosing to come in part-time to begin the year, and others going fully virtual. Unlike many other districts, which said they would consider returning to schools in November or next January, Souderton said from the beginning that Sept. 29 was their date of return.

Students still have the option of remaining virtual.

"It’s been wonderful to see students back in our schools - even from behind a mask. Our students have done an incredible job following our new safety protocols, and our staff members are working extremely hard to reach our students both in person and virtually," Souderton Superintendent Frank T. Gallagher said in a letter sent home to parents. "I’m so impressed with the way everyone has come together, once again exemplifying the incredible sense of community that exists in this school district."

As Souderton reopens, school boards in other districts nearby are still debating what it will take for them to reopen, what metrics to base that decision on, and what the temperature of the school community is on the issue.

Response has been decidedly mixed to various online learning platforms, with parents in many local districts citing both child care and issues and educational deficiencies in the models. Numbers are not expected to get much better than they are now until there is a vaccine — 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 in other districts.

Lower Merion is beginning a phased reopening this week.

At Colonial School District, Plymouth-Whitemarsh announced plans to partially re-open schools in mid-October, with students coming in twice a week. Students also have the option to remain fully virtual.

North Penn's current plan calls for a re-evaluation of things in November, with a possible return if metrics hold steady, but pressure from school district families could lead them to bump that date up. They're currently evaluating their options. This is similar to many other area districts: Upper Dublin plans to reopen on Nov. 9, and Wissahickon plans to return in November at the start of the second marking period.

Norristown, meanwhile, has said they will not return until Jan. 2021.

Souderton school officials said face coverings are required, and students will be separated by six feet. Handwashing and sanitizing stations have been made widely available. And they're working with the Montgomery County Office of Public Health to provide contact tracing should any cases of the virus arise.

Several cases were found recently at West Broad Street Elementary in Souderton. The district moved that school temporarily to fully online instruction in the wake of the positive tests.

Additionally, families are urged to monitor their children for coronavirus symptoms every day.

Over the most recently tracked seven day period, the county has seen decreases in four of the six key metrics in the state Department of Health's Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard. That includes a dip in cases (231, down from 307 the week before), incidence rate per 100,000 residents (down to 27.9 from 37.1), percent positivity rate on all tests (down to 2.3 percent, from 2.6), and average daily hospitalizations (down to 26, from 31.7).

A recent study also showed that Pennsylvania is among the safest states in the nation for schools to reopen. The study looked at 15 key metrics, including the number of child COVID-19 cases and deaths per 100,000 children, the average public school class size, the ratio of students to school nurses, public mask usage, and more.