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School year to open with remote instruction in Mt. Lebanon

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 8 min read
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Mt. Lebanon School Board agreed unanimously to begin the academic year with remote education for the first nine weeks.

The vote finally took place following nearly three-and-a-half hours of discussion, with substantial opportunity for public commentary, during a board meeting conducted virtually Thursday.

The board also met Monday for its regularly scheduled committee meeting, during which Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer presented his recommendation for opening the school year. That meeting topped the four-hour mark, with Mt. Lebanon residents also able to share their opinions.

On Thursday, Steinhauer reiterated his stance on starting the year remotely as a safeguard against the spread of COVID-19.

“It is the safest, most prudent and effective manner to move forward with education in the midst of a public health crisis,” he said. “As incidence and percent positivity rates lower and we reach benchmarks established by Pennsylvania Department of Health or Allegheny County Health Department health, we will safely and gradually return students and staff to school buildings.

“And while I understand and respect the varied opinions in our community,” Steinhauer continued, “it is my duty to recommend a phased in educational approach that is safe, stable and effective for all.

Many of the community members who weighed in argued for a “hybrid” model of education, in which students would attend classes in person two days a week and learn remotely the other three.

The school district has offered Mt. Lebanon Cyber Learning Academy as an option for families, and as of the beginning of the week, more than 1,170 students were registered. As a whole, the district has an enrollment of about 5,500.

Steinhauer acknowledged the potentially adverse effects of remote learning on the social and emotional well-being of students.

“Sometimes I think we underestimate the perseverance, determination, grit that our children have and have developed over the years, either through school programs or through their parents,” he said Monday. “We are keenly aware that teaching online is different than teaching in person, and we’re trying to help our teachers develop the capacity and skill to do that.”

He cited faculty considerations as one of the reasons for his recommendation.

“Over the past several weeks, we have had more than 150 of our teachers and staff indicate that they may not be able to safely return to an in-person environment,” he said. “These requests are made based on documented health issues and eligibility under the various leave allowances.”

The district has about 720 faculty members.

“We need our full teaching staff to do a hybrid option,” Steinhauer said. “In addition, as we’ve seen from some of the parent requests, they’re expecting synchronous learning on the three days that their children are not in the building.”

His reference is to real-time instruction that allows for some degree of virtual interaction with teachers and classmates.

School buildings won’t necessarily be empty while remote learning is taking place.

“We will also provide safe and healthy in-person learning experiences for those students with critical needs that can only be met in person,” Steinhauer said Thursday. “In addition, there may also be other circumstances that will allow the reintegration of students in school facilities in smaller groups.”

Prior to Thursday’s vote, Sarah Olbrich, school board president, spoke about the difficulty in arriving at a decision.

“As you’ve heard during these contentious calls over the past several weeks,” she said about public comments during board meetings, “there is no one solution that will satisfy everyone. And in fact, within each group – be it all in person, all online or hybrid – there are differing opinions on how those solutions could be optimally delivered. This is truly a no-win situation for everyone involved.”

Board members also have had extensive communication with Mt. Lebanon residents outside of the meeting format.

“Through these conversations, we know that online learning that many of our children experienced in the spring was not at times the quality that Mt. Lebanon parents expect. This is attributable to how quickly the change was thrust upon us,” Olbrich said.

She called for efforts toward cooperation as the first day for students approaches Aug. 31.

“Now, more than ever, we as a community need to come together to make this happen,” she said. “Please practice what all of our children are taught in our schools: Be kind, and be respectful of those who may think differently than you.”

Protesters oppose recommendation for fully remote start

A safety-driven recommendation to start the Mt. Lebanon School District academic year with students learning remotely prompted a gathering of protesters.

Carrying signs that in many cases included the word “choice,” adults and children assembled Wednesday in front of the municipal public safety building to vent their frustrations.

“That was something that was put together in 36 hours, basically online,” Hillary Lohr, a mother of an eighth-grader who attended the protest, reported.

She and other parents were reacting to Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer’s announcement during Monday’s Mt. Lebanon School Board meeting that he recommends “fully remote instruction for all students for the first nine weeks,” as opposed to having event part-time attendance in person.

“It was like having the rug pulled out from under us,” Lohr said. “Many of the people just want their children in the schools, even if they did some kind of hybrid option, even if it was only two days a week, something to get their kids to meet their teachers.

“Imagine the first day of school, and you’re meeting the teacher online,” she continued. “That’s not meeting your teacher. Imagine elementary: first, second grade. They need to form a connection, and there’s no way to do that if they’re at home.”

Lohr said that as a parent, she feels comfortable with the precautions being taken under a detailed health and safety plan for the district, as approved by the school board on July 29.

“The idea that schools are going to clean more and distance people more and encourage more hand washing, I’m a big fan of all of that,” she said. “The janitorial staff has always been fantastic. Everything is clean. Everything is taken care of. So it’s not like they were starting from a real low point. They were already on top of taking care of the facilities and keeping people safe.”

Opposition to opening the school year with fully remote learning also arose frequently in a lengthy period of public comment during the Aug. 10 board meeting, which was conducted on a videoconferencing platform that provided Mt. Lebanon residents with the opportunity to call in with their observations.

“To really only promote and advocate a virtual model, you’re shortchanging these children,” There is a mental health crisis that is looming right now. You are doing nothing with this virtual model to address peer-to-peer socialization, special needs.”

Peter Darcy of Woodhaven Drive said. “My children are suffering because of the prolonged nature of this pandemic, and we moved here because of the thoughtfulness of this school district.”

He contended that district officials have not examined options thoroughly, and that after all the work that went into developing the health and safety plan, it is being disregarded.

“You’re essentially throwing that out the window, for reasons I’m not even sure of, because I don’t think you’re as transparent as you’re communicating right now,” he said. “But I can tell you this: We know full well, nine weeks will become 16 weeks, will become the year. And these children, my children, cannot sustain that.”

Dr. Tahniat Syed, a pediatrician and Scrubgrass Road resident, said that after considering the relative dangers associated with COVID-19, she decided to send her daughter back to school in person.

“It is a respiratory transmission, and with your health and safety plan, you’re not going to be letting sick children in,” Syed told the board.

She acknowledged that students who presented no symptoms likely would be in attendance, but she had thought about what would constitute a “worst-case scenario” in that regard.

“Well, she would be wearing a mask,” Syed said about her daughter. “You have a desk shield. That person is asymptomatic. She would have to really get respiratory droplets exposed to her in enough concentration for that to take and for her to get sick.

“Of course, the risk is not zero,” she continued. “But the risk seemed relatively fair enough that I could say, OK, it would be good to send her to school.”

For parents who have concerns about their children’s potential exposure, the Mt. Lebanon Cyber Academy is being offered throughout the school year. Syed is among the parents who would prefer an option for students to return to class in some capacity.

“I really feel like the health and safety plan that was put together was really quite stellar,” she said, “and I think that children will be able to comply with that.”

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