Guided by the district’s two assistant superintendents, the East Penn Board of School Directors studied proposed instructional plans for elementary and secondary students at the Aug. 10 virtual regular meeting.

Before proceeding, the board observed a moment of silence for Student Transportation of America bus driver and trainer Carolyn Partenope who died Aug. 1 at age 51.

Assistant Superintendent Douglas Povilaitis presented the elementary instructional plan for both remote and hybrid students.

For hybrid students, groups of students with last names starting with A-K and L-Z would alternate learning in-person and remotely during the week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesday classes would alternate on a weekly basis. The students learning completely at home would have the same schedule Monday through Friday.

Povilaitis said a school calendar will be assembled, then made available to families to keep track of which days their students toggle between in-school and at-home study.

A sample daily schedule compared hybrid classroom instruction with online learning at home. Both would start 9 a.m. with a livestreamed meeting online to connect the classroom students with their remote counterparts. From 11:30 a.m. to noon, educators from the school team would check in live with the remote learners who would be following a daily schedule of studies, including when to take a lunch and recess break.

Povilaitis also provided a sample daily schedule for the fully-remote student. This features live sessions 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-1:30 p.m. for English Language Arts lessons, science or social studies and math. Other scheduled activities include times for small group lessons and a noon to 1 p.m. lunch break.

Povilaitis said Seesaw will be the primary communication method for all elementary teachers and families. Google Classroom would also be used for instruction.

The district’s secondary instructional plan, presented by Assistant Superintendent Laura Witman, provided a similar balance of in-school and remote learning as the elementary schedule, with fully remote students studying at home all five days of the week.

At the high school, which begins 7:23 a.m. periods 1, 2 and 4 run 60 minutes, while period 3 runs 142 minutes. Period 3 includes lunch and advisory time. There would be 10 minutes passing time between blocks and seven minutes allowed between lunches.

According to Witman, the middle school schedules contain eight periods lasting 37 minutes each, with a 29-minute ninth period. Three 37-minute lunch periods would be scheduled between 9:41 a.m. and ending 11:32 a.m. at Eyer Middle School. The three student lunch breaks at Lower Macungie Middle School start 10:18 a.m. and end 12:09 p.m.

Schoology for Chromebook was chosen for all secondary school coursework. Witman said “We are prepared to do everything we can to meet student needs and meet academic targets for every course under these logistics.”

She explained 100 percent of the instruction for those students who opt for remote learning will take place remotely, adding 50 percent of instruction for those who opt for in-person learning will also take place remotely.

With up to four hours a day of instruction and condensed instructional periods, students are expected to engage in additional asynchronous instruction outside class.

Teachers would utilize Zoom to connect with those students who are not in the classroom. The teacher can choose one of three options to provide instruction – reaching all students in-class and remote in real time, working with in-person students while only connecting with the remote students at specific times or working with the students in the classroom while students at home complete assigned work.

Traditional grading and reporting will resume for the 2020-2021 school year and teachers will conduct student quizzes and tests through Schoology.

Witman outlined contingency plans for situations where the district may need to move to fully remote learning.

The directors unanimously passed three resolutions including the approval of the emergency instructional time template affirming the district will provide at least 900 hours (elementary) and 990 hours (secondary) of in-person instruction and/or remote learning for all students.

The board agreed to declare the COVID-19 pandemic is an emergency within the meaning of Section 520.1 of the Pennsylvania School Code and adopted the learning model resolution which allows flexibility to adapt to emergency situations.

The directors approved filing a flexible instructional days application for Pennsylvania Department of Education acceptance. This would give the district flexibility in how to handle makeup days, if needed.

School Superintendent Kristen Campbell reported the results from the recent Family Fall 2020 Commitment Survey. Of the 7,000 respondents, 5,000 chose the hybrid plan, while 2,000 chose to learn at home remotely.

In her district update, Campbell spoke of how the administration has been monitoring updated PDE and Pennsylvania Health Department recommendations for school reopening, as well as staffing needs.

She said Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association announced Aug. 7 all fall 2020 sports have been delayed by two weeks. The organization will meet again before the August practice sessions would begin.

The directors gratefully accepted a donation of 300 3D printed face shields from Mack Trucks. The shields, valued at approximately $1,500 – $2,000, are in support of the district’s fall 2020 reopening.

In personnel matters, the board acknowledged the July resignation of Lower Macungie Middle School Health Room Nurse Karen Schaffer and the retirement of Roxann Frei, a food service support staff worker at Emmaus High School.

The directors authorized new hires Caitlin Lerch as a special education teacher for Wescosville Elementary School and Tracey Miller as a certified school nurse at EHS, both effective in October. Matthew Greiling was approved as an eighth grade math teacher starting Aug. 24.

Director Alisa Bowman sadly reported the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit needed to close two of three behavioral health programs due to funding issues.

According to Vice President Paul Champagne, the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute is working on a hybrid learning plan that would be in sync with other schools. They are also adding additional parking for student drivers.

Requests to address the board were granted to nine members of the community, most of whom provided support for Bowman’s recent Facebook posting about a contentious Aug. 1 pro-Trump rally in Emmaus.

Allen Lewis, Kenna Kita, Ronald Rohlsen, Alex O’Neill and Alena Slak all confirmed, as per Bowman’s social media post, Trump supporters were maskless, heavily armed and belligerent toward Black Lives Matter supporters who protested peacefully. Lewis and the others described how a Trump supporter tore a sign away from a protester and threw it in the trash while another threatened to stab a student demonstrator.

Amy Jones expressed concern about how the hybrid schedule would affect a LCTI student. Lori Reiss asked if students would be issued equipment for online learning. She was reassured by Campbell all students will receive Chromebooks or other devices appropriate to their grade levels from the district.

Jennifer Roth recommended more information be made available to the public, including an interactive Q&A session. She also volunteered herself and her friends to help with sanitizing the schools if it would help keep them open.

Dana Jennings inquired about how students would be able to catch up after losing so much instructional time when the state closed down the school buildings last spring.

President Ken Bacher announced there was an executive session held before the public meeting 6:30 p.m. on personnel issues.

The East Penn School Board meets 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month. A regular board meeting is scheduled Aug. 24. The public can access documents through BoardDocs and virtual meetings online via a link on the district website.