Pennsbury Schools Will Be Remote Through January

FALLSINGTON, PA — Students in the Pennsbury School District will begin the school year remotely and continue learning at home through at least January.

Pennsbury's school board voted Thursday night for a plan under which students will learn from home through Jan. 29 due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

During a meeting that lasted nearly three hours, school board members called the decision a difficult one with no easy answers.

"There's no substitute for having kids in school every day — we all want that, believe me," said school board President T.R. Kannan. "But we have to be realistic and stop looking for that perfect answer in an imperfect world."

Previously, the school board had approved a model that would have allowed some students to begin school in person, while others started the school year remotely. That, Kannan said, was bound to fail and "upset 100 percent of the people."

In the end, he said, deciding to either begin the year in person or remotely could turn out to be the wrong choice.

"The impact of being wrong in one of those situations is much worse than the other," he said.

Pennsbury School District Superintendent William Gretzula also said that some Pennsbury staff members will have to be furloughed during the first semester, while school is virtual.

According to a fact sheet that Pennsbury parents were scheduled to receive Friday:

• Virtual learning will be "largely synchronous, with opportunities for live instruction in virtual classrooms each day."
• Teachers will hold office hours each day to provide individual or group support.
• Daily attendance will be taken during each class.
• Student assignments for Fall 2020 will be available online by Aug. 31.
• Virtual parent-teacher conferences will be held Nov. 19-20.
• Counselors, administrators and teachers will work to provide social and emotional support. "We recognize that students will have particular needs as they return to school which may impact their performance, therefore, additional supports are in place to assist individual students and their families," the district said.

A Web page has been set up with distance learning resources for parents and students.