H-L delays school start, will use hybrid model for first 2 weeks

The Hopewell-Loudon Local School District Board of Education approved a resolution to delay the start of the school year to Wednesday, Sept. 9 at a special meeting via Zoom Tuesday evening. The school had originally planned to begin classes today. The decision to push the school's starting date back two weeks comes after a notice sent by the administration to community members Saturday which told of three staff members and two students who tested positive for coronavirus. Friday's football game was cancelled and other fall sports were temporarily put on hold as well. "We are going to push to start Wednesday, Sept. 9 to allow teachers back in the building and to have a teacher work day," Superintendent Jeff Holbrook said. "We can also still have a staggered start to ease kids back in, and we're pushing back at the sheer number of kids that would be in the building at a time. Holbrook added the district also moved the start of the school year due to "the circumstances we're in right now." Holbrook also said Hopewell-Loudon will begin the school year using a hybrid format when classes do commence Sept. 9, which means students signed up for in-person instruction for the fall will attend face-to-face classes two days per week and spend three days each week using remote instruction at home. This model will be used for the first 13 days of the school year, 7-12 Principal Brian Rothrock said. "The hybrid model is a simple approach that's going to be effective," Rothrock said. "We're currently working on it right now." The hybrid plan, which is still being finalized, involves breaking down all students into two groups alphabetically by last name. Group 1, made up of students with last names beginning with letters A-K, will attend school in person Monday and Thursday, and Group 2, which comprises the rest of the school (L-Z), will attend school Tuesday and Friday, Rothrock said. All students will perform remote learning on Wednesday, he said, and on the days they are not in the school building during the week. Group 1 is made up of 410 students and Group 2 has 390, he said. "We know we're not going to get each classroom perfectly split half-and-half, but it's a start," he said. Rothrock also mentioned there is still a plan to include students who attend Vanguard-Sentinel during the week into groups, though the administration based their own model on Vanguard-Sentinel's current hybrid model already, so there should not be any issues with transportation or scheduling for those students. The administration also is working on getting students with different last names who live in the same households to stay together, per the original fall plan. "If there are multiple last names in a household, we'll go by the last name of the student at the highest grade level [for grouping]," he said, "to keep families in the same group." On Monday, Sept. 28, the plan is to return to face-to-face instruction five days a week, Holbrook said. "That is the plan right now," Holbrook said. "We'll have to work with transportation a little to make this work, but we'll be easing back into the building tomorrow, with limited time and exposure, and we'll be easing back into athletics as well." Athletic Director and high school football coach Brian Colatruglio discussed plans for H-L's sports teams with the Seneca County General Health District, he said, and plans were made for moving forward with the school's fall sports season. "The football team will not be participating in week one or week two," he said. Though the football has had to cancel its first two games, Colatruglio said all other fall sports, including volleyball, cross country and golf, will resume participation today. "All other athletics with students without any direct contact or any COVID issues can move forward," he said. "We felt they should be able to continue and move forward with their seasons." "We pushed the pause button Monday and Tuesday this week to feel like we had a handle on what we're dealing with," he said, "but now we have our plans back in place with volleyball and other sports." Colatruglio said he has contacted all of H-L's upcoming opponents to let them know about the school's positive cases, and offered them the opportunity to decide whether they wanted to play or not. "I ultimately left it up to them," he said. "If they don't want to come here, or they don't want to have us travel there, that's obviously their choice." But he added all teams he has spoken with are willing to continue with their scheduled matchups. Health Commissioner Beth Schweitzer, who also was on the meeting, agreed with the idea of resuming other fall sports seasons this week. "I feel with the proper precautions, as have been recommended, there's no reason not to go ahead and try those sports," Schweitzer said. "As long as everyone's cautious, as they have been up to now." Schweitzer also weighed in on the school's idea for a hybrid return in two weeks, saying keeping the initial numbers down is the right move. "I believe our kids needs this, this balance with safety and health as well as mental health, and being able to provide our kids what they need," she said. The administration is still discussing how to make-up the school days that will be missed, and a resolution will be determined and put before the board at a future time.