REGINA YOUNG
New Hope-Solebury School District has decided to go with an all-virtual learning format for the first marking period of the upcoming school year.
From Sept. 8 to Nov. 6, New Hope-Solebury students will participate in remote learning, the district said in an alert posted on its website earlier this week. New Hope-Solebury’s announcement comes a week after Central Bucks informed parents and students of its plan to offer 100% virtual instruction for the first marking period, Sept. 8 to Nov. 11.
In Upper Bucks County, Quakertown Community School District will offer A/B hybrid and all-virtual learning models for the first four weeks of the school year, which begins for the Panthers on Sept. 14.
The decision, which applies to all students in kindergarten through 12th grades, was made at a five-hour board meeting on Aug. 13 “after studying student registration data with a 91% parent participation rate, listening to building principals about what social distancing looks like in each of our schools, reviewing staffing challenges, medical guidance from the CDC, state and county health officials, along with Reopening Guidance from the Governor, and feedback from parents, teachers, support staff, union leaders and the administration,” Superintendent Dr. Bill Harner wrote in a blog post on the district website.
“Parents who selected live five days of the week instruction option will have their child assigned to their second choice, either the hybrid – two days in school and two days in a virtual setting – or 100% virtual,” Harner stated. “Students with disabilities and English language learners will attend school four days a week if five days of live instruction was their first choice.
