Have students attend classes in person or keep them home in a virtual learning environment? Play sports or put them on the sidelines?

These decisions consumed hours for school boards and administrations around the area in 2020 and, often times, the sleepless nights didn’t stop even after an initial decision was made.

Votes on learning models and sports led to several protests in the Palmerton Area School District in 2020, as the district weighed state Department of Education and Department of Health recommendations with the wishes of students, teachers and parents.

Palmerton initially gave families multiple options, led by a hybrid of two days of in-class instruction and three days of virtual learning for students.

“The ultimate goal all along was to safely return our students and staff to school, while mitigating COVID-19 risks,” first-year superintendent Dr. Jodi Frankelli said at the time.

The hybrid plan essentially split each class in half, with one group going to school on Monday and Tuesday, and the other group going on Wednesday and Thursday. On the three days students are not in school, they are watching and participating in their classes online.

Palmerton initially released a plan on July 15 calling for a full five-day return to school for all students, but pulled it the next day when the state handed out guidelines urging for more social distancing.

“That guidance on July 16 really then became our north star,” Frankelli said. “It was very firm on the 6 feet of social distancing and there is no way we could have full classes while achieving that.”

Parents could also opt for full-time virtual learning. Students would be enrolled in their school and assigned to a Palmerton teacher just as they would be if they were in the actual face-to-face school setting.

Just before school began in early September, the district released survey results revealing 1,240 students, or 66.95% of those who responded, would be attending under the hybrid option.

The weekend before Palmerton’s school board was slated to vote on whether or not fall sports and club activities would be allowed in 2020, parents organized a peaceful demonstration in the Palmerton Borough Park. The board voted 7-2 to allow the fall sports season to take place.

“Our job is to oversee an educational program that offers extracurricular activities,” director Tammy Recker said in support of her vote for the fall season. “The kids participating are doing so with the consent of their parents or guardians. If the parent is OK with them participating, I can’t play God to the people making those decisions.”

Attempt to return

In early October, as cases and the transmission rate in Carbon County remained low, the district began planning for a return to five-day, in-person classes for those students who would opt for that.

“We really tried to take into account all of the concerns from our parents and our teachers,” Dr. Jodi Frankelli, superintendent, said in making the recommendation following a survey sent to parents and staff. “We wanted to give all the survey results equal weight and make the best decisions for everyone involved.”

A phased return to five-day in-person instruction would have started when Carbon County’s “Level of Community Transmission” remained at the “low” level for three out of four weeks, starting with the week ending Oct. 2. The county, with a 15.6% incidence rate per 100,000 residents and a 1.7% PCR positivity rate, is currently at the “moderate” level.

But that never happened.

Carbon County’s transmission rate started spiking and districts were suddenly starting to think about moving all students to a virtual learning format.

On Nov. 17, Palmerton, by an 8-1 vote, approved moving all students to a virtual learning format from Dec. 1 through at least late January, with sports being canceled during that time. To revert back to the hybrid model, Carbon County would have needed, at worst, a moderate level of community COVID-19 transmission for three out of four weeks.

The decision drew immediate reaction from parents and students, who organized a protest the following weekend in the Palmerton Borough Park.

“In our county, and surrounding counties, some districts are still in person five days a week,” Stacey Connell, a nurse practitioner, said at the time. “It’s a disservice to our students and teachers to give up on the hybrid program. We’ve had some cases in the district, but no student-to-student transmission, and I think that says a lot about our kids. I believe we can stay the course and continue to practice social distancing and other safety measures in schools.”

Four days after the protest, the board met for five hours before deciding to change course again.

By a 5-4 vote, the board voted for a virtual learning model extending from Dec. 1 through Jan. 4. It also reinstated sports during the time students were virtual, although Gov. Tom Wolf eventually nixed extracurricular activities until Jan. 4.

“It’s a compromise,” director Barry Scherer, who made the motion, said of the decision. “Nobody has proved to me that is unsafe for our kids to be in school. You can do anything you want with numbers. Anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable sending their children to school can stay all virtual if they want to.”

Palmerton is currently scheduled to return to school on Jan. 4 under the hybrid learning model.

Other districts

Northern Lehigh started with a hybrid model, but has closed schools when virus cases were reported.

Both Peters Elementary and Slatington Elementary were in the fully remote model in December.

All NL schools will implement a short-term transition to the fully remote model for the two weeks after winter break, Jan. 4-15. Jan. 18 is a professional development day with no students.

Jim Thorpe started on a hybrid model but will go virtual until Jan. 19.

Carbon Career & Technical Institute will resume its hybrid model after the Christmas break.

Lehighton will have virtual classes through Jan. 8.

Panther Valley will have two weeks of remote learning after the break before resuming its five-day schedule.