With the Pennsylvania Department of Education “strongly urging” school districts to provide a continuity of education during a statewide school shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, area administrators are planning for what those services will look like.

Dr. Alan Lonoconus, interim Palmerton Area School District superintendent, said Palmerton is looking at more of a hybrid plan when it comes to online and traditional learning environments.

“We’re on about plan B or C at this point,” Lonoconus said. “We’re looking at a system where staff can put assignments on there and set up chat rooms and certain times where they will interact with students throughout the week. There are a lot of challenges to setting up a traditional 8 a.m.-3 p.m. educational day while students are at home, so we’re not looking to go that avenue.”

He compared the model Palmerton is looking at to more of a college course type setup.

“Students get their assignments, do the work and are able to get credit, while having time to interact with teachers along the way,” he said. “I think at the outset, it will be a lot of review from where we left off when the schools closed. We’ll gauge that progress as we move forward with any new material. We want to make sure they are as ready and prepared to start next school year as possible.”

Gov. Tom Wolf this week extended the school shutdown and during a conference call on Wednesday morning, PDE leaders said April 9 is currently the first day students could return to the classroom. Don’t, however, rule out another extension of the shutdown.

“We’re partnering with the Department of Health and of course the governor makes the ultimate decision when it comes to that,” Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said during the call. “There is a lot of data we look at, but as the number of cases are still steadily increasing, there is a chance that could be extended further.”

Despite the extensions, Rivera said there is no chance the state will allow districts to extend the school year past June 30.

“That is statute,” Rivera said. “That is when the school year fiscally ends and the next one begins.”

Other districts are also finalizing their plans for distance learning.

“We are working on a plan for the continuity of learning for the students of Lehighton Area School District,” the district posted on its website. “We ask for your patience as the district begins to roll out additional extended learning opportunities for our students. We will continue to update parents and guardians via email, social media and phone contacts, throughout this process.”

Working out details

Lehighton is asking parents to update their information within the parent portal of the PowerSchool System to assure the district has their most up-to-date contact information.

The district has made several Wi-Fi hot spots available throughout campus. Students can connect to LASD-Public with no password after accepting the terms of condition as required by school district policy. Hot spots are located near the school buildings and multipurpose stadium.

At press time Thursday, Lehighton Area School District Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver was participating in a Zoom meeting regarding continuity of education. The Times News will be releasing more on each district’s plans as they are finalized.

Tamaqua Area School District Superintendent Ray Kinder said they are working on a plan that would take most districts about a year to put together.

“We don’t really know what we’re going to run into,” Kinder said. “We’re going to try to work with our families as best we can to be supportive of them. We’re creating somewhat of an on-the-go curriculum for students at all three levels.”

After determining which families are able to communicate online and who may need more support, Kinder said, Tamaqua will go into some review activities to try and bring the kids back up to speed.

“Eventually, if it continues to go on and extends past the deadline, we would get into a new type of information being distributed,” Kinder said. “We personally don’t believe that anything is as good as when you can put the teacher in front of the kids. But we’re going to try and do the best we can for our students and families.”

Northern Lehigh School District Superintendent Matthew J. Link said the district will eventually release information when its Continuity of Education Plan is posted and its content.

“As of now nothing is mandatory, but that may change as we continue to remove equity concerns,” Link said.

Palmerton has been reaching out to families trying to gauge how many families have Internet access and the technology to utilize it and how many do not. To that extent, many school administrators have expressed concern, however, over how online and virtual learning will impact their ability to meet the requirements of the federal Free Appropriate Public Education law.

Their concerns were heightened by PDE’s wording on a frequently asked question portion of their website.

“When a school is closed because of COVID-19 response efforts and does provide educational services to the general student population, the school must ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to the same opportunities, including the provision of FAPE,” PDE’s website states. “In addition, districts/schools must ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, each student with a disability can be provided the special education and related services identified in the student’s IEP or Section 504 plan.”

Between now and next Thursday, Lonoconus said, Palmerton will be reaching out to the district families with specifics regarding the district’s plan and how it will take shape.

“We’ve been telling staff we’re going to Palmertonize the education to meet the needs of our students and families,” he said. “It’s going to be a different approach all over. Some districts have bigger budgets, some have less. Some have more technology and some have less. Districts have to do what is best for them.”

During Wednesday’s conference call, Matt Stem, PDE’s deputy secretary for elementary and secondary education, said the state is asking local districts to “make a good-faith effort” when it comes to access and equality of education during the shutdown.

“We don’t want them to hold back on continuity of education because of that,” Stem said. “We know it won’t be an easy task.”

Terry Ahner and Justin Carlucci contributed to this report.