With the unprecedented nature of the 2020-21 school year firmly in the rearview, attention turned toward the 2021-22 term at the June 22 Saucon Valley school board meeting.

Assistant to the Superintendent Jaime Vlasaty shared results from a survey of parents/guardians whose children remained in a fully-virtual setting through the end of the academic year. Administrative professionals in each district school reached out to families to gauge their preliminary intent regarding returning their children to in-person learning for the beginning of the new year.

The total number of virtual students at the end of the year across all buildings was 327, Vlasaty said, with 182 families responding for a 56 percent response rate; 94 percent of respondents indicated that their child would be returning, with the remaining six percent undecided or planning on moving out of Saucon Valley altogether.

Of those who responded that they were ‘undecided,’ Vlasaty noted that some said they were waiting to see the upcoming year’s Health and Safety Plan. With such a small number of respondents not ready to return in-person, “we feel pretty confident to say that we wouldn’t recommend having a virtual option,” she said.

Board member Michael Karabin inquired about any progress in drafting a 2021-22 version of COVID protocols. Superintendent Dr. Craig Butler, who was the only official at the meeting still wearing a face covering, answered, “In anticipation of the vast majority of our students coming back, we are looking at the three foot distancing in classrooms. Most of our classrooms are the size, we believe we can accommodate that and maintain the three foot distancing.”

Board member Bryan Eichfeld asked if Butler thought distancing would be a requirement, to which Butler added he expected it to be a recommendation and not mandatory.

Eichfeld went on to express his feelings that very young students such as kindergarteners and first graders need ‘circle time’ and to be able to work closer together. He presented statistics which, he said, he “pulled up on the internet, directly from the CDC. Out of the entire country there has only been 376 deaths… of people (age 17 and younger) due to COVID.”

Eichfeld added, “that’s an absolute insignificant figure. There were over 1,500 deaths from pneumonia… it just seems to me that we are chasing our tail if we’re still doing the three feet and all this stuff.”

Board member Shawn Welch agreed, saying, “you’ve got universities out there which have done studies on this, and they all come back saying essentially the same thing: ‘Why are you focused on the kids?’”

Solicitor Mark Fitzgerald shared some insight from a legal perspective, saying neither the CDC nor Pa. Department of Education have come out with any guidance yet. “I would be shocked if they don’t make recommendations of three feet and... continued universal masking,” he said.

Fitzgerald continued, “Now, those aren’t going to be mandated like the orders were this year; those are going to be suggested recommendations… I think districts are going to take that under advisement, but ultimately many districts are indicating that unless it is a specific order or mandate, boards and administrators are going to make decisions on mitigation strategies.”

Butler noted that the administration along with “stakeholders,” are working on the plan and will be bringing it to the board in early July. “We have a strong desire to return to the highest state of normalcy as possible,” he said. “I think the vast majority of our parents also have that desire.”

In other news, the board unanimously voted to adopt the 2021-22 budget in the amount of $50,613,671. Millage will remain steady and $209,300 will be tapped from the fund balance to cover the shortfall.

Business manager David Bonenberger said he’d recently received an email from the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials which indicated the possibility of an increase of between $100 million and $300 million in Governor Tom Wolf’s state budget. If the $300 million is added, Bonenberger said it would translate to an additional $188,000 coming to Saucon Valley in state funding, while a lesser amount would mean a smaller windfall for all Pennsylvania districts.