Update on Phase 2 Hybrid and Phase 1 PlanningRadnor Township School Board Meeting

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Radnor Phase 2 Hybrid

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Tonight’s Agenda

Update on Metrics and Guidelines§ Internal Radnor School Data § Chester County Health Department Guardrails§ Radnor Township Community Data

Testing and Vaccinations at RTSD§ Project ACE-IT through CHOP/DCIU§ Vaccinations at RTSD

Elementary Phase 1 Plan§ Schedules / Protocols / Transportation§ Phase 1 Communications and Timeline

Preparation and Why§ Prepared to move to Phase 3 or 1 at any time§ Focus Group Parent Feedback§ Update on Guidance§ Learning from other School Districts

Timeline and Next Steps§ Measured and safe plan shared with all§ Consulting with Health Department§ Commitment from Families 2

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Rapid Testing and

Vaccinations at Radnor

Rapid Testing at Radnor:

Project ACE-IT (Assisting Childhood Education through Increased Testing) is a school-based COVID-19 testing initiative across the five counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania utilizing Abbott’s BinaxNowTM COVID-19 Ag Card rapid test kits.

ACE-IT is a part of the Nation's Coronavirus Testing Strategy as the testing supplies were provided directly by the Federal government.

The purpose of ACE-IT is to provide schools with point-of-care rapid testing as a mitigation strategy in the fight against COVID-19. Such testing, in combination with a school’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan, aim to protect staff and students from exposure to COVID-19 and limit the transmission of COVID-19 on school campuses and school buses, and provide additional information in assessing the safety of in-person instruction, and extracurricular activities hosted on campus.

93% sensitivity to detect infection in SYMPTOMATIC persons with culturable virus

79% sensitivity to detect infection in ASYMPTOMATIC persons with culturable virus 5

Rapid Testing and

Vaccinations at Radnor

Vaccinations at Radnor:The Superintendents of Delaware County, along with the Chester County Health Department and Delaware County’s COVID Task Force, have developed a vaccination plan for educational faculty and staff throughout the county.

The plan calls for four school-based vaccinations sites, located potentially in Radnor Township, Garnett Valley, Ridley, and Upper Darby, to be opened concurrently over the course of 3 to 4 weekends. After staff have received the first dose of the vaccine, the plan will be repeated for the second dose one month later. Currently, the plan is awaiting a supply of vaccinations and we have no confirmed dates.

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Preparation and Why

Parent Feedback / Focus Groups were organized at each building K-12

Feedback included:

§ There was tremendous positive feedback regarding many elements of the RTSD hybrid and remote learning platforms

§ Nothing can replace the importance of in-person learning

§ While many of our students are doing well, many of our students and families are stillstruggling

§ Shifting to a full-day program addresses many of the issues that are facing our strugglinglearners and families

Ultimately, we must find a balance between COVID health with the overall mental and physical health of our students 7

“The only constant has been, change”

“We need to be just as prepared for Phase 3 as we are for Phase 1”

Preparation and Why

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"In many school settings, 6 feet between students is not feasible without drastically limiting the number of students...Physical distance between desks should follow current public health

guidance, and desks should be placed at least 3 feet apart...Schools should weigh the benefits of strict adherence to a 6-feet spacing rule between students with the potential downside if remote

learning is the only alternative.”

American Academy of Pediatrics as of 1/5/21 COVID-19 Guidance for Safe Schools

"Our knowledge about the virus and about mitigation strategies for infection control has increased significantly from July. Based on 3 months of varying school re-openings across the country that

have served as a national natural experiment, it is now clear that schools with in-person learning that use effective mitigation strategies are very unlikely to create super spreader events and, even more importantly, can create safe environments...The most important elements of infection control that matter are:...3 ft social distancing for young learners at all levels of community spread; 6ft social distancing for high schools when levels of community spread rise above 100/100,000 daily

new cases; 3ft social distancing below that level".

Harvard Global Health Institute; issued 12/18/20

What is Recent Guidance Telling Us?

Preparation and Why

What are we learning

from other school

districts?

“Six-foot distancing is not required for classroom seating – a lesser distance is acceptable if six feet is

not achievable to meet the needs of students.

There will be a minimum spacing of three feet, the social distancing recommended by the

World Health Organization (WHO), as a three-foot distance is associated with large reductions in

infection via droplet spread of coughs and sneezes.”

County

# of school districts open full-day for students

(3 ft. min. / 6 ft. to the maximum extent possible)

Bucks County

Central Bucks SDCouncil Rock SD

Pennridge SDNeshaminy SDPalisades SD

Quakertown SD

Montgomery County

Souderton SDWissahickon SD

Upper Merion SD

Chester County None

Delaware County None

Local School Districts Currently Operating Full-day In-person Instruction

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Preparation and Why

10As we continue to consult with the Chester County Health Department,

we want to be fully prepared to shift to Phase 1

“If evidence exists that indicates improvements in COVID-19 cases,

transmission, deaths, hospitalizations, etc., schools may consult with the Chester County

Health Department about transitioning to in-person with less

than 6 feet of physical distance (3 feet as a minimum).”

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§ Provides a full-day of instruction that is aligned with typical past practices.

§ Maintains the same AM I/E blocks in Phase 2 (Hybrid) and Phase 3 (Fully Virtual/Remote) to allow for shared services to continue in all three phases without changes to the schedule.

§ Incorporates a (50-min) lunch/recess block and the longest special block possible (45 min) while allowing transition times for between specials for cleaning (5 min between specials).

§ Recess areas will be established to maintain social distancing.

§ Allows specialists to “cohort” with 1 classroom section per grade for a period of 2-weeks to mitigate COVID-19 exposure and support contact-tracing. Rotation schedule on next page.

§ Subtle changes to this schedule may be necessary based on school and student needs.

Phase 1 Elementary

Schedule

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Phase 1 Elementary

Specials Schedule

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Phase 1 Lunch and

Recess Plan

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Phase 1 Transportation

Update

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Phase 1 Communications

Phase 1 reflects months of planning though ongoing work of building and district administration, and in consult with:

§ Local/state/national health guidelines

§ Emerging research

§ Input/feedback collected through building leadership teams and parent focus groups

§ Local school districts

The plan was reviewed with each elementary staff:

§ Fri. January 8th (IES)

§ Mon. January 11th (RES)

§ Tues. January 12th (WES)16

Phase 1 Elementary

Timeline

Design a well thought-out, measured, and safe Phase 1 plan that will continue to be developed and refined

Communicate the plan to all stakeholders and elicit placement decisions (via online form)

Organize logistics and compensate for placement implications and changes

Initiate Phase 1 , monitor progress, adjust as necessary

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Continue to monitor community spread, changes in guidance, and our ability to staff our buildings

What is Next?

InstructionalProgram

Commitment

In-Person Model

Cyber Model 18

A Continued Community

Commitment to Safety

Masking and Screening

Social Distancing and Hygiene

Social GatheringsRadnor Township

CommunitySupport

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Questions