Abington Approves Plan For 4 Days Of In-Person Schooling

ABINGTON, PA — Abington School District unanimously approved plans to return to four days of in-person learning a week during a board meeting Tuesday night, as coronavirus numbers improve across the township and Montgomery County. The move was cheered by advocacy groups that have been vocal in calling for a return to school for months.

The shift to the new learning model will begin on April 6. Gov. Wolf has previously said he hopes for the bulk of the state's educators and school employees to be vaccinated by the end of March.

The new hybrid model calls for both elementary and secondary students to be broken up into three cohorts. Cohorts A and B will return to full in-person learning on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Cohort C will have the option to remain fully virtual. Wednesdays will be a day of asynchronous learning at home for all cohorts.

Abington School District has seen 35 cases amongst staff and 57 amongst students since the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Parent groups sent petitions to the district to reopen, with more than 600 signing the most recent of these pleas. The petition called the move to reopen "long overdue."

"Thank you to all for your collective voices in fighting for what is right and just for Abington children and families," wrote Stephanie Roz, an admin of the "Reopen Abington Schools" Facebook group, which has some 800 members. "Our support for we each other gave us all the faith and courage to speak up!"

The district, however, waited until they were within the state and county mandated guidelines to return to hybrid learning.

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Abington parents have said that students with learning disabilities and lower grades especially suffered under the previous model.

"These children are either not logging on for learning or struggling greatly with the online platform," said Stephanie DeVito, another admin of the Reopen Abington group. DeVito said she had to quit her part-time job in order to help her children on virtual learning days.

Several new developments in recent weeks have made a return to classes seem inevitable. For one, the percent positivity rate and incidence rate in Montgomery County have both plummeted. The county's positivity rate is 5.09, while Abington's incidence rate per 100,000 residents is down to 89.97, according to the most recently available statistics, covering the week up to March 4.

The Abington numbers currently place it within the "moderate" risk category, as determined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. To get to the "low" risk category, the district must have an incidence rate below 10 and a positivity rate below 5 percent. For the moderate category, the state recommendation is to move to a blended model.

Beyond the local statistics, there is also now widespread testing available for teachers and students. High risk students can receive tests weekly, while any student who develops symptoms after they arrive at school can get a test. All student-athletes can also be tested weekly.

No student will be required to be tested, the district's plan is careful to clarify.

Students must be separated by three feet while in the classroom, while teachers must be separated from students by six feet. Masks are mandatory when not separated by that distance, or when eating or drinking.

Officials were also given confidence in reopening due to the recent announcement that teachers and other school employees can receive the vaccine. The state announced plans last week to administer the new single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine through 28 intermediate units statewide.

If an increase in cases bumps the district back up to the "substantial" risk category, the district said they will consult with the Montgomery County Office of Public Health on how to move forward.