Carbon Career & Technical Institute announced updates regarding the 2020-21 reopening plans on its website last week, but it’s still a work in progress.

Out of the three options the school is considering, a plan will be approved and submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for final approval be the end of July.

Official reopening plans will be set by early August.

David Reinbold, administrative director for CCTI, said all three reopening options would have students attending their technical area instruction in person.

“Option 1 is a full reopening with all students every day going through their regular schedule with recommended and required health and safety protocols in place,” Reinbold stated in his website update.

Option 2 would require half of the students to come to school on certain days and the other half would attend class on the other days. When the students are in attendance, they would receive a full day of their technical courses while academic courses would be delivered through online distance learning.

Opportunities for tutoring and small group instruction would be available with this option.

Option 3 would also require half of the students to attend every day but these students would attend their academics in person as well as their technical areas, dissimilar to option 2 that would hold online classes in addition to in-person instruction.

In the last two options, physical distancing is more likely to be achieved in comparison to option 1.

Regardless of what the school chooses, the time range for all options are tentatively 7:30 a.m. to 2:04 p.m.

The tentative start date for school will be Aug. 31 for freshman students only. New sophomores, new juniors and new seniors will report to school Sept. 1.

More details will be provided to the public regarding which students will report to school beginning Sept. 2.

The online reopening plan update states, “The most recent directive from the governor (is) that everyone is required to wear face masks in all public spaces …. This may change, but it is something to consider. At minimum, students may be required to wear masks or face shields in hallways, and in areas where appropriate physical distancing is not possible.”

Some students may qualify to drive their own vehicles to school to help overcrowding on school transportation. More information on this topic as well as more information regarding the schools potential reopening plans can be found at carboncti.org/news/update-2020-2021-school-year/.

Any students requesting to complete their academics and technical instruction through online distancing learning should contact Principal Brent Borzak at bborzak@carboncti.org.