Lower Merion Schools Eyeing Morning/Afternoon Hybrid Model

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — Officials in the Lower Merion School District are floating a new way to bring students back to their schools amid the coronavirus.

In a letter to the community, Superintendent Robert Copeland said the district is looking at instituting a hybrid learning model in which some students would attend school in the morning and other in the afternoon.

"We feel that our mitigation strategies (physical distancing, mask-wearing, hygiene and symptom surveillance/sick policies) will enable us to phase in safe in-school instruction, so long as there is not a rapid resurgence in our area," Copeland said in the letter.

However, Copeland noted the district cannot eliminate the risk of coronavirus exposure.

The district is reevaluating the current hybrid proposal, which would have one group of students attending school on Mondays/Tuesday and the other attending school on Thursdays/Fridays. In that model, Wednesdays are reserved for deep cleaning efforts.

Copeland said the district is staying flexible to account for changes, such as surges in local coronavirus numbers.

Below is the current timeline for returning students to their school buildings:

Week of Sept. 29 (no school on Sept. 28)

• All Kindergarten students
  • Assigned AM or PM classes with additional support staff to facilitate de-densification of classrooms where necessary
  • Elementary principals will follow up with building-specific details

Week of Oct. 5

• Next group of special education students
• Grades one through three in their assigned hybrid cohorts

Week of Oct. 12

• Grades four through in their assigned hybrid cohorts

Week of Oct 19

• Grades 6-12 in their assigned hybrid cohorts

The district is requiring everyone in its buildings to wear face masks. Masks can only be taken off during lunches; if lunch is part of the school day, it will be eaten at student desks in classrooms or in other locations determined by building where social distancing can be maintained.

Additional precautions in place include:

• Increased ventilation and filtration (MERV-13 filters) in the existing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems
• Emphasis on and time for hand-washing multiple times each day
• Hand sanitizer stations
• Signage throughout all buildings reinforcing safe practices
• Staggered transition times and directional hallway usage
• Revised pickup and drop off locations and procedures
• No visitors in school buildings

Parents/guardians will be expected to complete a screening at home each morning, before sending students to school.

Student who answer "yes" to any of the following questions are to be kept home:

• Do you have any of these symptoms that are not attributable to another condition:
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Repeated shaking with chills
  • Muscle pain
  • Headache
  • Sore throat
  • New loss of taste or smell
• Do you have a temperature at or above 100.4 F?
• Have you been in close, direct contact with; or a caretaker for an individual with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the past week?