As schools around Pennsylvania get set to reopen in around a month, many questions remain as to how districts should operate safely for students and staff and still deliver the most appropriate education possible.

The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee heard from superintendents, nurses, bus drivers and parents, among other representative groups, on Tuesday during a hearing in West Chester.

State Sen. Dave Argall, who represents Schuylkill and parts of Berks County, chairs the committee and said he sympathizes with the decisions facing school leaders and parents.

“As I listened to the speakers, particularly the parents, I’m thinking of all the questions I would have had to ask should this virus had happened 20 years ago, and I have no idea how my wife and I would have dealt with this,” Argall said.

Uncomfortable choices

Districts around the state are in the midst of approving health and safety plans to serve as the blueprint for returning to school, but many superintendents remain uncomfortable with some of the choices before them.

“We are asked to make medical decisions without medical backgrounds,” Dr. James Scanlon said. “There are no good options before us right now. Each district is basically left to pick their poison. Kids will fall behind. They already have.”

Scanlon also took aim at constantly changing guidelines and recommendations from the state. He said West Chester is working with its sixth set of guidelines since May 19. The changing guidance has impacted local schools as well. Palmerton, for example, released a draft health and safety plan on June 15 calling for students to be back in school five days a week, using three feet of social distancing as the guide. A day later, however, the state released firm recommendations of 6 feet of social distancing and Palmerton has now moved to a hybrid plan that splits classes in half.

“The changing and unclear guidance has divided communities,” Scanlon said. “Opinions about the virus are running along party lines. We have asked the state to be specific and they refuse.”

More nurses needed

Lori Kelly, president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners, called for the addition of more nurses, saying the ratio of one nurse per 1,500 students isn’t going to cut it this year.

“We need licensed medical professionals in every building, all day,” she said. “Until the issue of reliable nurse coverage is addressed, a gap in coverage is a foreseen reality.”

While a hybrid plan seems to be the popular choice locally, given the 6 feet of social distancing recommendations from the state, parents at Tuesday’s hearing feel strongly about more face-to-face time between students and teachers.

Beth Ann Rosica, a former member of the West Chester School District’s parent advisory board who holds a Ph.D. in education, said the goal of districts should be to minimize risk, not eliminate it.

“We must open schools for five days a week for anyone who wants their child to attend,” Rosica said. “Statistics do not warrant the extreme measures being taken. Children are not the ones dying from this virus. I don’t believe they are at risk and they are entitled to an appropriate education under the law. A remote or hybrid model is not appropriate. The kids deserve better.”

Need to attend

Fellow West Chester parent Tara Turner has a child with an individualized education program. Every day not physically spent in school, she said of her child, is a day lost in advancement.

Bringing students back to school, even at a just a few days a week, poses liability concerns for administrators. However, not giving students the free and appropriate education they are entitled to could bring legal challenges from the other side.

“Boards and superintendents will put their best plan forward, but when something goes wrong they will be the first one to have the finger pointed at them,” Edward Albert, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, said. “I think the state really needs to take a hard look at addressing these liability concerns.”

In a normal year, Blake Krapf begins working on his routes for the following year in April or May. But the president and chief executive officer of the Krapf Group told the senate committee Tuesday that they still don’t know what the school day is going to look like for many of the districts they serve.

“We’d like you to look at fast tracking COVID-19 testing and results for bus drivers,” he told the committee. “If a driver is exposed and has to go get tested and wait for results, if he or she is out of work for 10-12 days, it will become even more difficult to staff that bus.”

With many school leaders asking Pennsylvania officials for more specific guidance on reopening measures, Argall asked Tuesday’s panel if there are other states who are serving as a model for how things should be handled.

“Everyone is having challenges,” Scanlon said. “Whether it’s New York, Delaware or California. It won’t be right until there is a vaccine and we can bring kids back collaboratively again.”