PASD Parents: What Exactly Will It Take To Reopen Schools?

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — Parents last night demanded to know exactly how Phoenixville Area School District would determine it is safe for kids to go back to school and sports, and the superintendent had a response ready.

A Monday night workshop meeting session of the Phoenixville Area School District Board of Directors began with public comment that repeated a theme: Tell us exactly what it will take for students to return to live classroom instruction, and full extra curricular activities?

Comments overall carried a tone of impatience, if not accusation that the district was overly driven by fear.

"Fear is now more detrimental than the virus itself," said one parent.

Another said the limitations on even low-risk sports is "not fair," and that students are missing something valuable, unnecessarily.

Another comment said, "The epidemic has been over in Pennsylvania since June."

A few parents expressed gratitude for all the teachers and administration are doing, and several disagreed with the majority of comments, saying "we are still in a pandemic," and praising the school district for heeding health department advice.

The agenda for the workshop included a presentation from PASD Superintent Dr. Alan Fegley to address exactly the public inquiries. Fegley provided metrics for when Phoenixville students might return to in-person classes.

The "Next Steps" presentation explained that there are two measures the school district is watching to determine the safety of reopening schools. The are the positivity rate of COVID cases, and the incidence rate.

Positivity rate is a measure of how many tests for COVID are positive, as a percentage of the number tested; this gives a more accurate understanding of the virus's activity than positive test counts alone. Depending on how many people get tested or don't, a positive test count alone could misrepresent the situation.

Incidence rate is a measure of new cases within a population across a measured time period. Health departments measure new COVID cases arising per 100,000 people.

Fegley said the Chester County's Health Department advises there be three consecutive weeks of a positivity rate below 5 percent and decreasing, alongside two weeks of incidence rates below 10 cases per 100,000 residents.

Last week's metrics, Fegley said, were a 6.3 percent positivity rate, and an incidence rate of 69.92 cases per 100,000. "We're seeing an upward trend over the last two weeks," he said Monday.

Both metrics for seven-day periods have increased rather than decreased in recent weeks, Fegley reported. The last time numbers were down was from the week of Aug. 8, to Aug. 15, when the positivity count dropped from 3.4 percent to 2.54, and incidence went from 37.5 to 28.16 cases per 100,000. Every week since then, the numbers have gone up, said Fegley. His presentation offered recent numbers from the Chester County Health Department:

• Aug. 15-Aug. 21: Positivity Rate, 2.54% Incidence Rate, 28.16 per 100K
• Aug. 22-Aug. 28: Positivity Rate, 2.72% Incidence Rate, 29.12 per 100K
• Aug. 29-Sept. 4: Positivity Rate, 3.48% Incidence Rate, 40.30 per 100K
• Sept. 5-Sept. 11: Positivity Rate, 6.35% Incidence Rate, 69.92 per 100K

Fegley explained that the complexity of deciding on reopening for live classes arises in part because Phoenixville is situated so close to Montgomery County, and some staff and faculty commute from there. The health department calls for considering what is happening with COVID cases in surrounding counties and school districts.

Asst. Superintendent Dr. Le Roy Whitehead added that there has been a significant spike among high school and college students in the most recent two weeks.

Fegley offered a timeline for a decision, in keeping with a prior board decision that instruction would be done virtually until Oct. 9, and that the situation would be reassessed in the weeks leading up to that date.

The district is surveying parents, students, staff, and faculty with non-anonymous questions that will help administration evaluate needs and concerns in detail, Fegley said.

The school district's appointed Pandemic Team on Sept. 25 will present a its proposed set of guidelines for reopening based on their assessment. Administration will finalize the plan by Oct. 6, remaining in compliance with the school board's decision to reassess by Oct. 9.

Board member David Golberg injected a suggestion to immediately discuss re-opening schools in-person, and to vote on the matter in the next meeting. His suggest, he argued, was based on the "dozens of emails" calling for it, and the perception that the school board has already decided what to do, with or without input.

Fegley said the decision to wait until at least Oct. 9 had already been made by the board. He noted, though, that after the survey results come in, if a good number of parents want their children to remain in virtual school, "maybe we can bring in those students who want to be in school," because the lower numbers would allow for distancing. A majority of the board said there was no need to discuss re-opening before Oct. 9, at this time.

Board Vice President Jeesely Soto said that she felt the school board has been doing its due diligence in the matter of reopening. "I read the emails from parents, and I feel for them," she said.

The PASD Board of Directors meets on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. The meeting is viewable on Phantom TV.