The East Penn Board of School Directors observed a moment of silence at the July 13 virtual meeting for 2020 Emmaus High School graduating senior Dmitri Garcia, of Upper Milford Township. Garcia died July 5.

Requests to address the board were granted to seven individuals with questions about the district’s reopening plan.

Amanda Osher from East Texas asked how extracurricular club activities will fit into the health and safety plan.

Macungie residents Mary Knolle and Bevin King expressed interest in the reopening proposal, with King mentioning concerns over masks and social distancing if the students returned all at once. She recommended phasing in student admission to the classrooms. Knolle asked if Pennsylvania System of School Assessment testing would resume.

Pamela Gupta, of Macungie, inquired how the gifted program would be structured for students learning remotely, as well as if the pandemic situation improves, would students be allowed to transition back into the classroom.

Emmaus resident Kelly Charters requested clarification of policies regarding masks, face guards and sick days, especially for special needs students.

Laura Kain, of Allentown, with two children in East Penn schools, was worried about possible oxygen deprivation if students were required to wear masks for the entire day without a break.

Amy Jones, of Macungie, asked how the reopening plan would align with her daughter’s studies at Lehigh Career & Technical Institute.

The board weighed in on the administration’s revised District Fall 2020 Health and Safety Plan. Presented by School Superintendent Kristen Campbell and assistant superintendents Douglas Povilaitis and Laura Witman, it was explained “East Penn continues to plan to reopen schools in Fall 2020 with face-to-face instruction for all EPSD students to the maximum extent possible while adhering to health and safety guidelines.” This plan incorporates feedback from a recent parent survey on three proposed reopening models presented at the June 22 meeting,

Campbell said 67 percent of respondents to the survey were comfortable with their children returning to school as well as 84 percent of the staff. She emphasized protecting the health and safety of the students and staff was the district’s top priority.

The first day of school is anticipated to be Aug. 31.

Facilities Director Steve Onushco discussed how cleaning, sanitizing, proper ventilation, masks and social distancing measures would be employed in the district buildings for in-school instruction. He said some drinking fountains would be converted to water bottle filling stations.

Director of Student Services Thomas Mirabella fielded transportation questions, explaining the buses would be sanitized twice a day.

Meeting the needs of autistic and other students with disabilities was addressed by Director of Special Education Linda M. Pekarik.

This reopening plan also includes a remote learning option more rigorous than the Continuity of Learning program utilized for the Spring 2020 closure. Taught by East Penn School District teachers, the remote learning option would be available for any student who does not wish to return for in-person learning in the fall.

The plan is also based on the latest guidance from various sources, including a report by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in partnership with the Regional Educational Laboratory mid-Atlantic at Mathematica. It was said the World Health Organization updated guidelines with 3 feet as acceptable for social distancing.

As Lehigh County is currently in the state‘s green phase, an in-person or hybrid plan would be utilized. Parents and guardians are required to screen students for COVID-19 symptoms each morning before sending them to school. Some of the directors were skeptical on how conscientious some of the families would be in screening their children.

If the county reverts to red status, the remote model would be followed. A return to the yellow phase would involve traditional learning with 3 to 6 feet of social distancing for elementary students. Hybrid learning, a mix of in-person and online classes, would be used at the middle school and high school levels.

Of the more than 5,000 responses to the parent survey, it was revealed 50 percent of the community has the ability to provide their own student transportation.

Later this week, the administration will again seek parent and public input on the revised plan. Campbell said they need to know how many families plan to send their children to school for in-person learning and how many will opt for remote learning.

By participating in the upcoming parent commitment survey, families will also be asked to provide the district with the data needed to plan routes and bus loads.

“We will need our community to work with us to safely reopen our schools,” Campbell said.

The safety task force team, comprised of administration, educators, medical personnel and other stakeholders was praised by the board for their hard work. The directors requested the administration provide a more detailed description of the remote learning option so parents could make a more informed decision on how best to educate their children.

Board members were concerned about the possibility of students who cannot wear masks, because of a disability or health issue, infecting those around them.

Director Alisa Bowman and Vice President Paul Champagne suggested staggering school openings with elementary schools starting first.

Naomi Winch suggested Virtual East Penn Academy be available as an option for remote learning.

“We have one shot at getting this right,” Director Adam Smith said solemnly before adding several suggestions on tightening health and learning protocols, including stricter ones for masks and making it easier for a student to transition between learning options.

Many agreed with Smith that, “There is no good solution and the task before us is to choose the least bad option.”

Campbell announced during the district update graduating seniors will receive their diplomas July 25 with video of the event available on July 26.

In personnel matters, the board accepted the resignations of Human Resources Manager Jessica Afflerbach, Lower Macungie Middle School math teacher Brandon Cassel and Shoemaker Elementary Grade 4 teacher Julia Kling.

The directors approved new hires Erin Follweiler as an ESL teacher at Shoemaker Elementary School, Jamie McFadden as an ESL teacher at Willow Lane Elementary School and Alexandra Harte for teaching fourth grade at Shoemaker Elementary School. All are effective for the upcoming school year.

The directors held a final reading and adoption of board policy updates regarding tobacco and nicotine use on school facilities.

Champagne reported LCTI recently approved its own health and safety plan.

Future Ready Advisory Board member Smith described a summit he attended focused on equitable online learning access.

President Ken Bacher announced there was an executive session held before the public meeting on safety and personnel.

The East Penn Board of School Directors meet regularly 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month. A special in-person meeting, focused on school reopening, is scheduled for July 27. The public can access documents through BoardDocs and it will be announced later if the meeting will be live streamed on YouTube or available on Zoom via a link on the district website.