Northern Lehigh School District plans to use a hybrid model to start the 2020-2021 school year.

On a unanimous measure, the school board on Monday approved the district’s Health & Safety Reopening Plan, which suggests using the model through the first marking period.

The board’s decision came after district Superintendent Matthew J. Link recommended the plan and announced the first day of school will be on Aug. 31.

“Tonight after much reflection, I have decided to recommend a change to our health and safety plan, that we transition to a hybrid model or what the state is calling a blended model,” Link said. “It is my belief the only way to open schools as safely as possible is to implement the hybrid option.”

Link said that under the hybrid schedule, Group A, which is students with last names of A-L, will be in the buildings on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Group B, students with last names of M-Z, would then flip and be in-person in the school buildings on Thursdays and Fridays.

He said that on Wednesdays, all students would engage in remote learning with teachers in the classroom. The district would use that day to do additional disinfecting of classrooms and buses.

Link said the Pennsylvania Department of Education released new guidelines Monday that recommend using a level of community transition by each county.

He said that both Lehigh and Northampton counties are in moderate level, according to the PDE website.

Link added that PDE is also now recommending that school districts follow the hybrid model.

Link then recommended that the district commit to the first marking period, which runs through Nov. 4, and for special education students to attend four days a week.

Director Michelle Heckman questioned how teachers will handle continuity of education when group A is in school and Group B is at home.

“Every student will be able to contact a teacher or support staff while they are at home,” Link said. “This does not mean that teachers will be livestreaming lessons seven hours a day while children are at home, however students will have access to our teachers and support staff while they are at home.”

Link acknowledged that while it will create some barriers for families, the district believes “it’s the safest model.”

“I know this is a change from where we were, but we also listened to feedback from a lot of the community,” he said. “We’ve also been looking at what happens in other states and how quick they’ve had to go to a shutdown model.”

Director Gale Husack said she appreciated all the hard work that has gone into this decision.

“This is not an easy decision for anybody,” Husack said. “We’re asking the district to change on a dime, and I want to thank the teachers and administration for doing that, and I think as we move forward we can be successful.”

Link said that the district is not going to recommend going fully online unless the Pennsylvania Department of Health says that due to the spread it must, and added that the district has been told that the Department of Health is going to be doing contract tracing.

“We are not going to recommend that we go to fully online unless the Department of Health tells us we have to, or the governor shuts it down as he did in March,” he said.

The board fielded several questions submitted by residents during the livestream, one of which was why the district waited 21 days before school opens to recommend the hybrid plan when it could have been done so weeks ago.

“The recommendations from the state has changed,” Link said, adding that the district has listened to various feedback. “So, our available information has changed, and we now have a very strong recommendation coming from our Department of Education.”