Lower Merion Schools To Welcome More Students Back March 22

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — The Lower Merion School District will be welcoming more students back to district building full time in-person learning later this month, and district families have a choice to make.

Monday night, the school board approved the district's plan to bring more students back to school starting the week of March 22.

This March 22 target date is continent on positivity and incidence rates continuing to trend down, as well as other key metrics meet the guidance of state and local health departments.

District families who want to send their students back to in-person learning must fill out a form committing to doing so.

The Spring Pathway Commitment Form is available online here and must be submitted by midnight on Sunday, March 14. Without submitting a completed form, students will remain in their current placement by default.

The form is not just for families who want to send students back for in-person learning. A chart of pathway choices is available here.

"We realize that the pathways may not be perfect for every one of our 8,600 students and for all of our staff," District Superintendent Robert Copeland said in a letter to the district community. "And even with all of our planning, preparations and precautions, circumstances may force us to alter course again between now and year's end in June. But I am confident that if we work as a community, we can take this next step forward together."

School principals will be providing more information on building specifics via Zoom Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. Zoom links are available here.

A list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions is available here.

Copeland noted the following in his letter:

• LMVA students do not have the option of changing pathways and must remain in that program for the rest of this school year.
• Parents/Guardians who share responsibility for a child must agree on a Pathway Commitment prior to submitting. Only one form will be accepted per student.
• LMSD@Home K-8 was a yearlong commitment. However, if a family has a unique circumstance that makes them unable to remain in the virtual program, they can request to be added to a wait list for the Return to School Pathway (Full Return).
  • K-8 LMSD@Home students may be placed into a school other than their home school for in-person instruction.
  • Requests to move from LMSD@Home to in-person may be denied if there is not sufficient physical space for that student in a building.
  • LMSD may not be able to provide transportation for LMSD@Home students who are placed in a partner school.
• Students who are in the Phased Return to School Pathway (currently in Hybrid), but who want to move into virtual instruction will be placed as follows:
  • K-5 students will be placed in LMSD@Home classes, as long as there is sufficient space and staffing.
  • 6-8 students will be able to choose the "Middle School Spring Remote" option to continue to follow their schedules using technology, as has been the case during Winter Flex.
  • 9-12 students will be able to choose LMSD@Home 9-12 and continue to follow their schedules using technology.
• The current Winter Flex option for K-8 ends on March 19, 2021. The default option for Winter Flex is the Phased Return to School Pathway.