As Board Of Health Order Expires, Montco Schools Face Choice

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — The mandatory two-week closure of Montgomery County schools to in-person instruction expired on Monday, meaning that districts can now choose to return to hybrid models and students in the classroom if they so choose.

Most private and public school districts around the county are returning to either the hybrid model or the scheduled reopening that they had in place before the Board of Health issued the order in November.

"We are cautiously optimistic that we can maintain hybrid, in-person learning with the safety protocols, case investigations, contact tracing, and cleaning and disinfecting protocols we have in place," North Penn Superintendent Curtis R. Dietrich said in a letter sent home to parents, noting that the district was reopening to hybrid learning Monday.

>>Montco Schools Ordered To Go Fully Virtual For 2 Weeks

Dietrich noted the possibility that an outbreak of the virus in the district or staff absences due to the virus could both cause building closures, and urged parents to be prepared for that possibility.

"Please always have a plan in place," the letter adds.

However, there are a few districts which have shifted course following the Board of Health closure, acknowledging both the increasing case loads in the community and the number of cases contracted by school support staff.

"While we were planning to return to in-person learning tomorrow, there has been a significant increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Spring-Ford footprint," Spring-Ford Superintendent David Goodin said, pointing to case numbers in recent days from around the Limerick and Upper Providence Township area.

The Board of School Directors in Spring-Ford is holding a meeting Monday night to discuss next steps and possible future opening dates.

Methacton School District, which announced they will remain closed for at least one more week, is holding a similar board meeting Tuesday. Superintendent David Zerbe said he is concerned about potential "continuous disruption" that could be caused by reopening prematurely, as schools could be forced to close suddenly.

"Much of that disruption would come from with very little notice," he said.

Parents held an "Open Our Schools" rally on Ridge Pike Monday morning demanding that Methacton follow the example of its neighbors and reopen. Specifically, demonstrators said that reopening requirements should shift based on age range.

"Methacton continues to operate with a 'one size fits all' and an 'all or nothing' mentality, where plans don’t change across grade levels or on a building to building basis," organizer Jessica Bradbury said in announcing the protest.

Upper Moreland schools also extended remote learning

another week amid fears more cases of the virus are to come following Thanksgiving. Pottsgrove School District made a similar determination for this week, citing inadequate staffing due to the virus and a desire to gain more accurate case data from Thanksgiving.

Norristown Area School District, of course, announced back in the summer that they would not reopen to any in-person instruction until January.

The reopenings Monday come following two weeks of protests across the county, during which demonstrators gathered several times before the Board of Health's offices in Norristown. and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh's home in Wyndmoor.

"I have publically said a number of times that I agree with parents that the best place for students is in the classroom with in-person teaching,"Arkoosh said in a news conference last week. "The decisions the board of health made were with the goal of making it more possible for as many schools as wanted to be open here in Montgomery County."

The state recommends that all school districts within counties that are at "substantial" risk of community transmission move to fully virtual instruction. This guidance now includes nearly every county in the entire state, including Montgomery County.

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