by Kate Dolan

The Philadelphia School District’s plan to reopen schools on September 2 includes a hybrid model of in-person and digital instruction and the implementation of daily safety and health precautions.

The plan, School Year 2020-2021: Advancing Education Safely Plan, was announced at a press conference on Wednesday July 15 by city and district leaders including Chief of Schools, Dr. Evelyn Nuñez, who introduced major components of the plan.

“After many weeks of researching best practices, and consulting with public health experts we landed on the hybrid model that still will offer high quality education with students receiving face-to-face instruction, or in-person instruction, two days a week and participating in digital learning three days a week,” said Nuñez.

Students will be divided into two groups assigned by schools. The first group attends school for in-person instruction on Monday and Wednesdays, the second group attends Tuesdays and Thursdays. On days when students are not in school, they are participating in digital learning. For every student, Fridays will be a digital learning day. For Pre-K and complex needs students, in-person instruction will be Monday - Thursday.

“This staggered schedule will allow us to better implement social distancing since the number of students physically in building will be much lower,” Nuñez said. Families also have the opportunity to opt for the Digital Academy, which is an all-online plan of digital learning five days a week.

Nuñez said the schools will work to put siblings and children from the same households in the same group, to avoid scheduling challenges for parents and guardians.

Students who need one will receive a Chromebook, and schools will continue to provide meals. A grab-and-go breakfast will be available and for lunch, “they will either sit in a socially distanced seat in the cafeteria or return to their classrooms to enjoy their meals,” said Dr. Nuñez. Meals will also be available to students on the days they learn digitally. The plan states: Students will be able to pick up these meals as they are leaving the school building at the end of each day when they are attending school in person.

For students enrolled in the Digital Academy, five breakfast and five frozen lunch meals will be available, “to be picked up at a location closest to their homes,” reads the plan.

Daily cleaning protocols, an increased number of custodial staff, daily health screenings, hand sanitizing stations and mandatory mask usage by anyone on district grounds are all part of the plan which is available to read at philasd.org/coronavirus/schoolstart2020/#theplan.

The plan was designed with the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Philadelphia Department of Health, and input from local pediatricians as well as feedback from teachers, staff, parents, guardians and students.

“Safety and science have guided the entire process about how our children will return to school,” said Mayor Jim Kenney at the press conference. “And it will be safety and science that will be used to implement policies that will keep us safe in the midst of these challenging circumstances.”

Inspections and thorough cleanings of school buildings will take place over the summer and each building will be assessed for their usability. Also still in process is determining how many new teachers will need to be hired and School Superintendent, Dr. Willian Hite, Jr., said the district will know once parents, guardians and students have selected learning options.

Hite estimates everything from the increase in hiring to Personal Protective Equipment will cost an extra $60 - $80 million for the school year.

“Districts across the country are facing devastating financial projections because of COVID-19 and we hope the federal government will fully support the passing of the HEROES Act to provide much needed additional funding,” said Dr. Hite.

Speakers, including Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley, acknowledged that the plan includes guidance on how to respond to positive cases of coronavirus.

“We do expect some cases of Covid to occur in children during the school year, but we hope to minimize that,” Farley said, adding that “there’s a lot of uncertainty about the risk of spread from children.”

Hite called the plan “a road map” and nearly every speaker acknowledged that the plan could change as COVID-19 evolves and urged everyone involved to be flexible and considerate of the impacts on the greater community, such as new childcare needs.

Medical Officer for the school district and pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Barbara Klock, called on the community to monitor their health each day and to stay home if feeling sick for the sake of the community.

“Our efforts will be more effective when parents and guardians and other members of our community do their part,” said Dr. Klock. “I’d like to say our four pillars are screening, hygiene, masking and distancing but really all based on a platform of community cooperation and collaboration.”