Phoenixville Schools Workshop District Plan, Will Vote Tonight

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — Phoenixville Area School District hashed through the details of reopening plans in an Aug. 5 workshop meeting.

The PASD Board of Directors will vote on a flexible instruction plan tonight at 7 p.m. The public may find a link to join the meeting here.

Wednesday's public presentation made clear the directives the district must follow in its operations, as well as its priorities. Listed as priority number one was "safety for every student and every employee." This was followed by the stated intention to "return to full in-school instruction as soon as safely possible."

The presentation addressed the kind of nitty-gritty questions that would need to be answered while any plan began to function. What would happen if a student at school began to show Covid-19 symptoms? What if you've traveled and have to quarantine? And what about extra-curricular activities?

Golf, tennis, and band were among the few extra-curriculars clearly considered safe. Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday recommended no sports in schools until January 2021.

The district's presentation also covered details of how different grade levels would function under different instructional plans as well as specifics about what it would take to alter instructional plans. The full presentation may be viewed here.

The virtual workshop saw heavy community input, said Sandra Claus, PASD Director of Communications.

School Board Director Blake Emmanuel early Thursday posted an opinion on social media that she clearly stated reflected her own views alone, and not the views of the school board. "I am speaking on behalf of myself," she wrote. The post was positively received with many supportive comments.

Emmanuel continued, "I am worried. I am worried about our students, and their academic progress and general well-being. I am worried about our staff. Our teachers, administrators, support staff, maintenance and janitorial staff, aides and paraprofessionals."

"No one should fear for their own safety. Ever. I am worried about our high risk/special needs populations. Our students who receive special education services, our students who are English language learners, our homeless students, our students who are not safe in their own homes. My fear for them keeps me up at night. I am worried about the long term affects this will have on every single member of our community."

"I am frustrated. I am not a doctor or medical professional, and should not ever be put in the position of making medical decisions. Yet here I, and every school board member in the Commonwealth are. We are being forced into making a decision, without real guidance from higher governing bodies. I am frustrated that politics has been brought into what should have been a unified response to a pandemic that should have been based solely in science and research, not personal opinions and biases."

"I am sad. There is so much out of our control and we know that our fellow community members are suffering. We know that there is and will be long term mental health consequences to any decision made. These consequences will affect everyone; students, staff, parents and guardians, and community members. As a society we were not meeting the mental health needs of our fellow community members prior to the pandemic, this need will only multiply."

"Please know the following; I do not make this decision lightly. I do not prioritize any one group over another, everyone has very valid and real concerns, I do take into account and consider every single email, call, text, conversation that I have, no matter what. Please do not make our teachers scapegoats for the board's decision. They are incredible, hard working, and deserve a seat at the table. The decision I make will include their input, but not be the sole basis. I implore the public to not make it an "us vs them" situation. Division will only hurt us further."

"The decision for how to reopen schools is not simple or easy. I will continue to work hard to make sure that I make the most informed decision feasible in these very challenging times.
If you have made it this far in reading this, thank you. Thank you for reading my thoughts and please know, I care deeply about all of our community members and am honored to serve in this position during these challenging times. Together we can. Together we will."

School district parent Steve Smith responded to Emmanuel's comments saying, "As a PASD parent and a schoolteacher in another district , I appreciate all the issues you have raised and difficult decisions you need to make. Until this pandemic is managed, I can’t envision any safer option than virtual learning right now. I want myself and my kids back in the school buildings but I don’t see how it can be done safely. Thank you for all your work."