Norristown To Remain Fully Virtual At Least Through March 1

NORRISTOWN, PA — Citing faith in the metrics that have guided them to remain closed for the entire 2020-21 school year, Norristown Area School District officials have announced they will continue to be fully virtual at least through March 1.

A phased return to a hybrid schedule had been tentatively hoped for on Jan. 11, and then again on Jan. 25, but those plans were both scrapped because the community did not meet the district's minimum required COVID-19 metrics.

"Though many I'm sure will be disappointed with this delay, I hope you understand and appreciate our rationale and our aim for consistency," Norristown Superintendent Christopher Dormer said.

Norristown has been one of the only schools in the region to not experiment with hybrid learning, even as parent groups have organized protests in neighboring districts across the county to bring other schools back to fully in-person models.

In order for Norristown to restart a hybrid program on March 1, the school district community must see two straight weeks of a positivity rate below 7.5 percent, or an incidence rate (per 100,000 residents) below 75.

Norristown hopes to roll out a phased implementation that prioritizes bringing the highest-need students — special education students and those who need supplemental support — back into classrooms first on March 1. This would be followed by students in grades K, 5, and 9 on March 8, and all other students on March 15.

If state metrics are not met for two weeks up to that date, the district will try again after spring break, on April 5.

Some districts in the county have struggled to return to the same models they had in place back in November, before the county issued the mandatory two-week closure of schools after Thanksgiving. The fall surge intensified at that time, and districts were cautious.

But the New Year has seen officials relax guidelines on elementary students coming back to in-person learning. Districts like Upper Merion have announced they'll be full time in-person starting Jan. 25 and 26.

>>Montco Launches COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Testing Program In Schools

And Montgomery County has also looked to facilitate schools getting back on their feet. This month, the county began a rapid antigen testing program in school districts, aiming to test all faculty on a weekly basis.

Dormer said that several aspects played into the decision, concerns over the newly discovered variant of coronavirus found in the United Kingdom, and the possibility of its transmission spreading faster amid children.

There are also concerns about when Norristown teachers will be vaccinated. Dormer was hopeful this process would begin by the end of January, but the county has not been able to give any firm dates for when phases 1B and 1C of the vaccination plan would begin. Even once teachers are vaccinated, Dormer pointed to the six or seven weeks needed to build immunity as another factor in the district's decision-making process.

Finally, there's the desire to give parents some ability to plan for the long-term, rather than the "fear and dread" of day to day and week to week uncertainty in scheduling.

The metrics to allow a full in-person model (not hybrid) are a positivity rate below 5 percent, and an incidence rate per 100,000 below 10.