Editor’s note: This week we are looking at the stories that shaped 2020. We’ll continue to publish them through New Year’s Eve.

By Justin Carlucci

jcarlucci@tnonline.com

It’s been a busy year for the Tamaqua Area School Board.

Pre-pandemic, safety was a main priority of the board. Late in 2019, the Tamaqua Safety Commission made recommendations to the school board that carried over into 2020 conversations.

After a controversial gun policy to arm its staff was rescinded in July 2019, the board approved new safety policy 805.1 in June 2020. The policy covers many districtwide safety initiatives, which includes arming personnel.

In August, the board announced the hiring of three part-time police officers, including former Tamaqua police Chief Henry Woods.

Another safety project underway involves enhancing the safety of building entryways.

“I like the idea of alarms and some kind of communication system,” said school board President Larry Wittig after a January meeting. “If something happens, everybody knows it’s happening at the same point. That’s all important; that minimizes the loss of life. But to deter, doing all this other stuff is preventative in its nature, but it’s not absolute. And nobody can say that it’s absolute. The only absolute thing we know is that in order to stop it (an active shooter or any other dangerous situation), it has to be confronted by force. We want to deter them, and we want to stop them.”

Safety has been a main priority in 2020, but an unexpected pandemic has taken over the world since March. Tamaqua, much like every district across the country, had to make health its No. 1 daily focal point for the foreseeable future.

Most school districts in the Times News coverage area and Schuylkill County elected to resume strictly online or in a hybrid format, but the Tamaqua Area School District offered in-person education every day that it could since August. The district also offers a separate virtual option.

“If they (parents and guardians) feel that it’s necessary for them to be behind a screen for safety, that’s OK and that’s their decision,” Wittig said in August. “As a district, we need to take a stand and say we are doing this because it’s the best for a majority of the students in Tamaqua and we want to give them the tools for the rest of their lives without shortchanging them.”

According to a districtwide survey sent out by Tamaqua’s administration over the summer, an overwhelming response of about 73% of Tamaqua district families were in favor of the in-person return to class.

“The negative effect of not having students in the classroom in our collective opinion, is more damaging than the risk factor of the virus itself,” Wittig said. “We’re making that determination purely for the good of the students. You cannot recoup the last semester in your senior year.”

Despite the pandemic, the 2020 seniors were able to enjoy a prom in July. This year’s Tamaqua senior class was able to attend a handful of varsity football games, which temporarily yielded a degree of normalcy.

“Most importantly is going to be the health and safety of our students and staff,” Superintendent Ray Kinder said. “From there, it’s trying to replicate the best academic environment we can for our students along with trying to provide them as many opportunities to be a regular high school and elementary student (and) try to provide them with as many opportunities that they normally get, even if they have to be delivered sometimes in an abnormal way.”