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TCCS approves reopening for staff, students in the fall

Photo submitted to Times Observer Students and staff aren’t the only ones eager to return to Tidioute Community Charter School. This black bear was spotted at the building on Thursday, a day after the board of trustees approved a return to school plan.

Tidioute Community Charter School is an early adopter in the state’s Return to School Plan process.

On Wednesday, the board of trustees approved a plan for the fall that includes a full reopening for all students and staff.

“We think it’s best for educational purposes that we bring them back full time,” Board President Al Haney said. “The board voted unanimously to bring everybody back full time.”

That won’t be easy.

“This will require much work and the students’ and employees’ days in school starting Aug. 20 will be much different than typical,” CEO Dr. Doug Allen said. “I know all districts and schools cannot bring all back given the size of school buildings and enrollment. We think we can do so safely at TCCS, but movements will be very restricted.”

Officials had discussed the possibility of eliminating the school’s pre-k4 program to free up space to satisfy the distancing requirements.

“There had been some discussion,” Haney said. “We could use that room.”

That said, the board didn’t want to make that sacrifice.

“We reaffirmed that we are, in fact, committed to keeping pre-K4,” he said. “That’s part of us. We’re going to keep it.”

Haney said TCCS is known for doing unique things and that the school’s reopening plan may fit that mold.

Tidioute’s administrative team presented three possibilities at the regular board meeting on Wednesday, Allen said, and recommended a total reopen for Aug. 20, 2020.

The board looked for clarification.

“Consultant Dr. John Linden reported the requirements for TCCS to return all people daily if approved,” Allen said.

Schools have to follow Gov. Tom Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania. Part of that process is to develop, submit, and receive approval for a school reopening plan.

“As far as the plan itself goes, we realize we have to follow CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education) guidelines,” Haney said.

The guidelines change almost daily and the board has called a special meeting for July 1 to “further review and approve, as required, the next step in the plan.”

But, Haney believes the plan meets the PDE requirements and should be approved.

“As I understand it, this plan only requires board approval,” he said. “I’m sure that (PDE) has some authority to audit.”

The board had help in making its decision.

On Monday, 13 members of the school’s focus group discussed the reopening plan. In attendance were school officials, including the CEO, assistant principals, special education director, school nurse, school solicitor, and several others, parents and community members, a former school district superintendent and president of a regional education consortium, the president of the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College, the CEO of Warren General Hospital, and others.

That discussion, and the work of the administration, led to detailed descriptions of possible reopenings.

A detailed version of the approved plan can be found on the school’s website — www.tidioutecharter.com.

Schools in red-phase counties do not have the option of a full return and must remain closed to in-person instruction.

Schools in green and yellow phase areas have more freedom.

Some yellow- and green-phase options presented by the state included:

¯ total reopening (like that approved by the TCCS board);

¯ scaffold reopening — some students are engaged in in-person learning, while others are distance learning (by grade level, for example);

¯ blended reopening that balances in-person learning and remote learning for all students (alternating days or weeks); and

¯ total remote learning for all students.

The school had to address requirements including those regarding cleaning and disinfecting in its reopening plan.

The plan also indicates that “rooms … will be populated according to CDC regulations” and buses and vans will also abide by the 6-foot rule.

Meals will be delivered to classrooms, instead of having a communal lunch in the cafeteria.

“For the most part, students will remain in one classroom all day,” Allen said in the plan.

Haney said he has not heard of any other districts nor schools that have approved their plans.

“I believe we are one of the first, certainly in this part of the state,” he said. “We wanted to get it done as efficiently and quickly as possible. We like to stay on top of things.”

Getting the plan in place quickly had accomplished two major goals.

“It’s not fair to the students and parents to keep them hanging on how it’s going to go,” Haney said. “We’re in the budgeting phase. It helps us to try to project budgets.”

“On behalf of the board, I do want to thank our team there for the time and work they’ve put in to get us to this point,” Haney said. “I appreciate what our staff and administration have done.”

BUDGET

The board approved a 2020-21 expenditure budget of $5,030,000, with the understanding that that number could change due to COVID-19 requirements.

Allen said the school expects to receive $190,000 in federal CARES Act funding.

ELECTIONS

The meeting lasted close to five hours and, in recognition of the time, the board did not handle its annual reorganization Wednesday. The board will elect officers at its July meeting.

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