Trinity to resume full-time, in person classes
Trinity Area School students could return to the classroom full time starting Oct. 19.
The school district recently amended its school safety plan to move students from the hybrid model to an in-person instructional model five days a week.
Parents who do not choose to send their child to school five days a week can opt for the district’s cyber model.
The state Department of Education mandated that Pennsylvania schools implement a school safety plan.
The school district notified parents of its plans to move forward with full-time classes in a letter on Sept. 24.
The district’s pandemic adviser, Dr. Michael Faust, will provide administrators with an analysis of health data on Oct. 8, and the school board will vote on the in-person instruction amendment at its Oct. 15 meeting.
“Please note that the hybrid model was never intended to be a long-term solution,” Dr. Michael Lucas wrote in the letter. “It was utilized to allow the students and teachers to return to an academic setting at a time when mandates and directions were constantly changing as the district worked to adhere to guidelines provided by the Department of Health.”
Using the hybrid model also enabled the district to evaluate pandemic mitigation techniques it put in place, according to Lucas.
As of Sept. 24, Lucas noted, Trinity students received in-person or remote instruction for 13 school days “without an outbreak or Department of Health closure. In addition, the Department of Health has not required many staff members, classrooms, or groups of students to quarantine.”
Lucas said the district has been vigilant in its strategies to keep students and staff safe, “and will continue to do so.”
He said there could be instances where the DOH recommends the closing of a classroom or school for a period of time, and the school district will follow that recommendation.