Pattye Benson

Community Matters

COVID-19

T/E Parents Have Option to Have Their Child Repeat a Grade – But Decision Deadline is Thursday, July 15!

July 13, 2021
4 Comments

As a result of the pandemic, it’s been more than a year of struggles for students, juggling the ups and downs of virtual and hybrid learning, leaving many behind in the process.

A newly passed state law in Pennsylvania (Act 66) allows parents and guardians to decide whether their children will move on the next grade level for the 2021-22 school year. However, if you decide that your child should repeat the grade you must act fast, the deadline to notify is Thursday, July 15.

In response to the pandemic, school districts had to enact many changes in a relatively short period of time. Like so many places, our District had to completely shift how they delivered education, from in-person to virtual school. Certainly, virtual learning posed a challenge for all – students, parents, and teachers – with some fairing better than others.

The possible pandemic-related learning loss means that some parents are weighing whether their children should repeat a grade.  Some parents are worried their children have fallen so far behind because of pandemic-disrupted learning that they should repeat the grade. If I were the parent of a school age child, not sure how I would feel,

During the pandemic closure of schools, many student athletes were unable to play team sports. How does Act 66 and having your child repeat a grade impact his/her eligibility rules for sports programs. What about giving your child some extra time in a sport in they excel by another year in the same grade. Many parents count on athletic scholarships for college – would repeating the grade help with scouts that were unable to see them play during the pandemic.

From the District’s website:

” … Act 66, signed by Governor Wolf last week, permits parents or guardians of students enrolled in TESD schools during the 2020-21 school year to retain their student for the 2021-22 school year in the grade in which they were enrolled last school year due to COVID-19 learning disruptions. Also, students whose special education services would have ended due to reaching the age of 21 may have the option to extend those services for the 2021-22 school year.

Please note that there is a hard deadline of July 15, 2021, in the law for families to exercise these options. For parents who wish to exercise the option to retain a student, please take the following steps:

  1. Complete the Act 66 of 2021 Student Grade Level Retainment Notification Form for the 2021-22 school year. Click here to access the form.
  2. Submit the form to your child’s principal by email or bring the completed form to the main office on or before July 15, 2021.
    1. If a student under the age of 18 plans to repeat a grade, a parent or guardian must submit the form to the school.
    1. If a student 18 years of age or older plans to repeat a grade, the student must submit the form on their own behalf.
    1. Both the parent/guardian and the student must complete this form if a student with a disability was enrolled during the 2020-21 school year, turned 21 during the time periods listed above, and intends to return to school for the 2021-22 school year.…”

COVID-19 Surge Closes Schools (again) Including T/E

November 18, 2020
26 Comments

As COVID-19 continues to surge across the nation and right here in southeastern Pennsylvania, school districts are returning to remote learning. Today we learned that the largest public school district in the country, New York City (1.1 million students and 1,800 schools) is returning to virtual learning effective tomorrow, November 19. It is unclear when the NYC students will be able to return to in-person learning.

Due to reports of increased COVID-19 transmission from Chester County Health Department, T/E is returning to all virtual-only instruction starting Monday, November 23 through Friday, December 4. In addition, there will be no athletic or extra-curricular activities during that same period.

In a letter today to District families and staff, Superintendent Dr. Gusick detailed the factors in the decision, including the potential community spread of the coronavirus during the Thanksgiving holidays.

Dr. Gusick also indicated that, “ … the number of teachers and students who have needed to self-isolate due to potential contact with confirmed positive cases has dramatically risen, with 143 students and staff needing to quarantine during the week of November 9.”

Looking ahead, the District’s plan is to re-open the buildings for special needs students starting Monday, December 7. The plan for elementary students is to resume the hybrid instruction on Thursday, December 10 with all students resuming hybrid instruction Dec. 14. Dr. Gusick cautions that the return to hybrid instruction dates are tentative.

This is typically the time of year when we all look forward to gathering with family and friends. But in 2020, the holidays will be like no other. If possible, please stay home for Thanksgiving.

As Covid-19 Cases Soar in Pennsylvania – A TESD Elementary School Teacher Provides Personal Observations

November 9, 2020
44 Comments

With the 2020 election last week and then the wait for the results, I purposefully delayed this post.

The news on Covid-19 cases is not good — the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported a one-day record of 4,035 new positive coronavirus cases on Saturday. That number more than doubled the springtime high. Since Covid began, at least 9,015 people in Pennsylvania have died from the coronavirus with new deaths reported daily. Cases are continuing to rise across Pennsylvania, with concern that the pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better as we enter the colder months.

There is some encouraging news out this morning from Pfizer indicating their vaccine against Covid-19 is strongly effective and exceeding expectations – the early trial results showing an effective rate of 90 percent in preventing infection! Such good news!!

Not to take anything away from the encouraging Covid-19 vaccine news from Pfizer, but … until the vaccine is readily available, the pandemic continues and coronavirus cases surge.  In fact, multiple school districts in southwestern Pennsylvania have closed schools as more students and staff became infected.

In our District, a staggered reopening began on October 12 with a hybrid in-person option as well as continued virtual learning.

The table below is the latest weekly snapshot of Covid-19 cases in the T/E School District. Each week the District updates the information. The chart indicates that for the week ending November 6, the District reported 2 new cases at Conestoga High School, 1 new case at T/E Middle School, 1 new case at Valley Forge Middle School and 1 new case at New Eagle Elementary School.  No new Covid-19 cases reported from the District staff for the week.

At the end of each week, the District updates its dashboard for new Covid-19 cases (students and staff). To review the results, click here.

A few days before last week’s election, I received an anonymous email in regards to the Covid-19 health crisis from a member of the T/E staff, which was both unsettling and concerning.  Before posting the remarks, I asked the writer to call me to verify. We had a lengthy conversation and the teacher from one of our elementary schools wants her observations to be made public.

Not wishing to add to the heightened anxiety surrounding the presidential election, I purposely held off posting the teacher’s remarks (below) until now. The elementary school teacher was careful to point out to me, that the comments are representative of her school only – and further, she has no information about the District’s handling of the pandemic at the other elementary schools, the middle schools or the high school.

Hi Pattye!

I work at a school in the district, and I’ve been holding off reaching out to you, but I can’t anymore. I’m scared for my health. I’m scared for our students. I’m scared for my family after being exposed all day at work.

In my school, I have frequently seen teachers walk around with just a face shield and no mask — this is approved by the district, but the shields are open on the sides and top and can easily allow transmission to happen.

I’ve heard teachers say covid isn’t real and keep their masks off even when other staff or students are present — this is not allowed and administration is aware — yet nothing changes.

I’ve seen support staff huddled up together talking with their masks off.  I have seen staff not following social distancing guidelines.

Wednesdays are supposed to be a day for deep cleaning to take place, yet the room for 4/5 days a week students from all different grades and classes is not being cleaned. The staff is wiping down desks themselves because no one comes in to clean them. The only things that I have seen being cleaned are doorknobs and light switches — which while appreciated, don’t account for the numerous other areas students touch daily.

I’ve seen specials teachers handing out shared materials. I have seen students not following social distancing guidelines with teachers nearby — but the teachers don’t correct them.

It’s overwhelming. There are students coughing and sneezing, but if they don’t have a fever they aren’t sent home.

There are staff that have symptoms that are told to stay home (yet no cases are being reported on the dashboard run by Chris Groppe).  We have had numerous cases where support staff has been out with symptoms or due to exposure, yet the students they work with are still allowed to come to school.

We had a situation where a staff member was exposed and had to be tested, yet none of the staff who were exposed to that person were ever notified. I feel like we are being misled by administration.

Everyone says we’re safe — but we have several students out this week (some who have parents who communicated the student’s symptoms) yet there’s no word on whether the students will be required to be tested before they return to school.

I honestly feel like TESD has no desire to notify people who are exposed unless there is a positive test — and at that point, it may be too late. I really feel like the community and parents need to be aware of what is going on here.

I am beyond shocked that the schools have been able to remain open as long as they have, but I honestly believe it’s because the district isn’t being honest about possible cases/exposure.

Signed,

Let Down in T/E School District

Based on my discussion with the District teacher, it appears that the policy/protocol around the students who exhibit symptoms of Covid – such as cough, sore throat, runny nose, fever, etc. and when they can return to school, are vague and need to improve. The teacher is concerned that the administration is not providing accurate information on other staff and on covid testing results. It’s worth repeating, these observations are from a District teacher in one elementary school and may not be representative of all the schools.

I asked the teacher how staff reporting of Covid policy breaches was handled – I learned that the staff is free to report any breaches to the school principal. However, the teacher said that she (and others) were uncomfortable with the reporting policy, preferring anonymity. I wonder if there be a way for staff to report anonymously – maybe utilizing a locked comment box?

Without question, the ongoing health crisis is difficult for all — the parents, students, teachers and administration. Families are challenged as they make educational choices for their children during the pandemic. And with Covid-19 cases on the rise, those decisions are all the more important.

Conestoga sports team members test positive for Covid-19 — Where will this leave the Fall sports program in TE?

August 28, 2020
16 Comments

At Monday night’s TE school board meeting, the board spent much time discussing the fall sports program with board members on either side. The decision about the fall sports program (as of Monday night) was that team practice would continue as it had in the summer with a final decision coming at the next regular school board meeting, the end of September.

However, it looks like there has been change of plans. On Thursday, the TE coaches received the email below from Chris Groppe and Kevin Pechin. Due to positive Covid-19 test results from several Conestoga sports teams, practices scheduled for August 27 – 30 have been cancelled and there will be no practice the week of August 31. An update on sports activities will be provided on or before Sept. 6.

Before seeing the email from Groppe and Pechin, a parent had told me that the sports programs were “on hold” so as that everyone could focus on the virtual opening of school. (The parent had not mentioned the Covid-19 test results). And to clarify, this email does not specify which sports teams were impacted by positive test results.

I do not see this as promising news for the fall sports program – but perhaps the parents of sports students read it differently.

Good Afternoon,

The District has been in consultation with the Chester County Health Department regarding confirmed cases of Covid-19 among members of several Conestoga sports teams, symptom screening results, and student athlete quarantine orders.

After reviewing the situation, and because this is a voluntary activity, all off-season sports activities scheduled for Thursday August 27, Friday, August 28, Saturday, August 29, and Sunday August 30 have been cancelled. As you are aware, to enable an effective start with virtual schooling next week, we will not hold any off-season sports activities during the week of August 31. We will provide an update on the status of off-season sports activities on or before Sept 6, 2020.

To help mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in our community, please continue to engage in habits that prevent the spread of Covid-19, including limiting close contact with people outside of your household, wearing a mask, engaging in social distancing, and frequent handwashing.

If you have been in close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19, the Chester County Health Department would notify you directly. Close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of another person for 15 minutes or longer.

More information about health and safety protocols are available at our website: https://www.tesd.net/Page/16600

Chris Groppe, Ed.D. Director of Individualized Student Services Tredyffrin/Easttown School District

Kevin Pechin Athletic Director Tredyffrin/Easttown School District

As TESD Plans to Reopen Schools, Will the Teachers Return to the Classroom or Is the Risk Too Great?

July 13, 2020
44 Comments

Next week, the community will learn the specifics of the reopening plan for the TESD schools. Scheduled for release the week of July 20 with school board vote to occur the following week, the public will have a short window to review and provide feedback on the proposed reopening plan.

In advance of the public release of the reopening plan, we learned that last week the District leadership held a meeting with a select group of parents. In my last blog post, some have taken issue with my interpretation of the meeting — by my calling it a “secret” meeting and attendees as “handpicked”.

For the record, I will stand on the words in my post, the meeting attendees were handpicked and individually invited; the criteria for selection unclear. Because the administration and/or school board presented no notice of the reopening meeting, provided no public agenda and repeatedly asked attendees not to videotape and to keep information to private “is”, in my opinion, the hallmark of secrecy.

From a transparency and communication standpoint, wouldn’t it have made more sense for the District to videotape the parent reopening meeting and then provide the link on its website for all those interested?

Moving on … Coronavirus cases keep increasing at alarming rates across the country and this comes as our District is wrestling with “how” to reopen the schools. Making these decisions is not easy. There’s the issue of safety, and that’s complicated because students, teachers and parents all have different Covid-19 risk levels. With the upcoming release of the District’s reopening plan, parents debate whether they send their children physically back to school or take the distance learning option.

Available medical research seems to indicate that students would be at lower risk than adults for serious health problems related to the coronavirus, leading to concern for the risk teachers would take returning to the classroom. Considering teacher safety (in addition to the students), especially those who are older, medically vulnerable or who may be afraid of putting a family member at risk must be another priority in school reopening discussion.

Did the District’s newly formed Pandemic Committee seek input from the teachers in drafting the reopening plan– were the teachers engaged in the process? It is my understanding that two teachers were invited to the parent reopening meeting last week – unclear if they attended as TEEA (teachers union) representatives. Although I did not hear that these teachers participated in the reopening discussion, someone who attended the meeting did offer that other teaching staff (substitutes?) would be hired for the daily lunch period when schools reopen.

Has the District involved TEEA involved in the decision-making process for reopening? As preparation for the fall, was there online distance technology seminars held this summer for the teachers? In advance of the draft reopening plan announcement, did the administration schedule a special meeting for the teachers, similar as was held for the parents?

At the June school board meeting, the public learned that Dr. Chris Groppe was to head the TESD Pandemic Committee, part of the state required reopening process. Although the District’s announcement did not include the membership list of the committee, the additional eight members with their specific responsibilities, are as follows:

  • Jeanne Pocalycko, Personnel matters
  • Wendy Towle, Instructional plan development
  • Mike Szymendera, Technology implementation
  • Oscar Torres, Equity monitoring and liaison with families in need
  • Ellen Turk, School safety
  • Mark Cataldi, Liaison with principals and school board
  • Art McDonnell, Operations and facilities
  • Chris Connelly, Communications

We all know that reopening of schools is not simply a matter of turning a key. Will the District’s reopening plan next week include input from all stakeholders – the superintendent, administrators, Pandemic Committee, principals, teachers (and TEEA), school support staff (including TENIG), school board, parents, school nurses and psychologists and state health officials?

In closing, I saw the following posted on social media today – a thought-provoking list of questions as reopening plans develop with teachers returning to the classrooms. My understanding is the list was written by a teacher (and a parent) in Hawaii but is applicable everywhere.

  • If a teacher tests positive for COVID-19, are they required to quarantine for 2-3 weeks? Is their sick leave covered, paid?
  • If that teacher has 5 classes a day with 30 students each, do all 150 of those students need to then stay home and quarantine for 14 days?
  • Do all 150 of those students now have to get tested? Who pays for those tests? Are they happening at school? How are the parents being notified? Does everyone in each of those kids’ families need to get tested? Who pays for that?
  • What if someone who lives in the same house as a teacher tests positive? Does that teacher now need to take 14 days off of work to quarantine? Is that time off covered? Paid?
  • Where is the district going to find a substitute teacher who will work in a classroom full of exposed, possibly infected students for substitute pay?
  • Substitutes teach in multiple schools. What if they are diagnosed with COVID-19? Do all the kids in each school now have to quarantine and get tested? Who is going to pay for that?
  • What if a student in your kid’s class tests positive? What if your kid tests positive? Does every other student and teacher they have been around quarantine? Do we all get notified who is infected and when? Or because of HIPAA regulations are parents and teachers just going to get mysterious “may have been in contact” emails all year long?
  • What is this stress going to do to our teachers? How does it affect their health and well-being? How does it affect their ability to teach? How does it affect the quality of education they are able to provide? What is it going to do to our kids? What are the long-term effects of consistently being stressed out?

Is there a safe way to open TE Schools on August 31? What will our schools look like (or what should they look like)?

July 11, 2020
42 Comments

To go back or not to go back – that’s the question on many T/E School District parents’ minds as we inch closer to August 31 and the beginning of a new school year.

In March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the District into a crash course in online education. And from what I have heard from parents, “remote learning” did not go well, to put it politely. Parents did a yeoman’s job in supporting the learning needs of their children while trying to balance their many other responsibilities during this very challenging time. However, it appears that many kids did not get close to what they needed during the shutdown and parents have reported student progress stalled significantly during that time period.

Distance learning placed a strain on all involved – it’s seriously second-best to real, in-person instruction. Ask any teacher, student or – maybe most of all – parent who tried to make it work. Keeping kids home and teaching them remotely is feasible for the short term. It is not, for the vast majority of families, a state of affairs that can continue indefinitely without causing serious strain. Most households simply aren’t set up to home school for extended periods of time. Remote learning is a poor substitute for in-person teaching and by most accounts; America’s great remote-learning experiment was a failure.

Too much learning has already been lost because of the abrupt school shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Students have lost ground and schools need to reopen. More kids will do better if schools reopen than if they continue online-only classes.

From the TESD website, “At the end of the school year, the District conducted a survey of parents, students in grades 5-12 and teachers to collect feedback on their experiences during spring 2020 distance learning and their thoughts related to future programming. … The District received 2,822 responses to the survey from verified parents, 743 responses from students and 282 responses from teachers.”

The TESD Distance Learning Survey results dated June 8 indicated that of the parents responding to the survey, 66% were interested in their children returning to school when it reopened (assuming safety protocol is followed), 18% preferred home schooling and 17% were undecided. As the countdown nears for schools to reopen, it would be curious to know where parents currently stand on the issue.

The New York Times recently reported that, “New research suggests that by September, most students will have fallen behind where they would have been if they had stayed in classrooms, with some losing the equivalent of a full school years’ worth of academic gains. … Racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps will most likely widen because of disparities in access to computers, home internet connections and direct instruction from teachers.”

As parents anxiously wait for schools to reopen, the biggest questions on everyone’s mind are how that can happen safely. At the last TESD school board meeting on June 29, the public was told that the District was working on reopening details for the 2020-21 school year; and that there was a plan for students to return to school or to continue to learn remotely.

Although specifics on the reopening plan were minimal at the June 29 meeting, the administration confirmed they were working on the details and that the plan would be available by the July school board meeting. It was then surprising to learn that the administration held a preemptive secret meeting this past week on Thursday, July 9 at Valley Forge Elementary School regarding its reopening plans. Although a select group of school district parents was invited to attend the small meeting, the criteria for their inclusion was unclear. TE school board president Michele Burger also attended the meeting.

The special meeting to discuss reopening plans was not listed on the District website, no agenda was published and attendees were asked not to videotape. However, one of the parents who attended the secret meeting provided a Zoom online update for Valley Forge Middle School parents later in the day (with an estimated fifty interested parents logging in). It would be helpful if parents who attended the in-person meeting (or via Zoom online) could provide us with the District’s update on its reopening plans.

With many parents anxious for updates on the District’s plans – you have to wonder why the secrecy. We know the reopening of TESD schools will follow the guidelines of the state as set forth by CDC (Center for Disease Control) — just not sure, that hand-selecting attendees for a secret meeting was the state’s intended process or approach. Inclusivity, communication and transparency are critical if the District is to safely reopen its schools.

How many of you remember the transportation fiasco when schools opened last August? With new delayed school start times, parents endured late buses, repeated changes in schedules, poor or non-existent communication from the transportation department and/or administration and some of those problems lingered until December. The TESD community cannot afford a similar outcome if the District schools are to successfully reopen on August 31.

To reopen schools during the coronavirus pandemic is extremely challenging and parents need reassurance that the classrooms are safe. The “Devil’s in the details” and how well the District’s administration and school board communicate the reopening details is key to success!

From the TESD website is the following schedule regarding the District’s reopening plans:

Week of July 20, 2020 TESD will present a draft of the fall reopening plan and will provide additional opportunities for input from stakeholders.

Week of July 27, 2020 The Board will schedule a special virtual meeting to consider approval of the final fall reopening plan.

Early August 2020 Families will make the decision and commitment either to attend school following health and safety guidelines or to participate in distance learning. School officials will begin implementation of the Board-approved plan.

August 31, 2020 Scheduled First Day of School for grades 1-12.

All T/E Schools Closed Starting Friday, March 13 Through at Least Thursday, March 26!

March 12, 2020
13 Comments

Tredyffrin/Easttown School DistrictI just received notification from the T/E School District with the following letter from Dr. Gusick, the District’s Superintendent — All T/E Schools are closed starting tomorrow Friday, March 13 through at least Thursday, March 26. In addition all school related activities are cancelled.

March 12, 2020

Dear T/E Staff and Families,

I am writing to share that all T/E schools will be closed and all school-related activities will be suspended beginning Friday, March 13 through at least Thursday, March 26.

This afternoon Governor Wolf announced that all schools in Montgomery County will be closed for two weeks and he discouraged non-essential travel within Montgomery County. As you know, the communities of Montgomery County border the T/E School District. Approximately 25% of our teaching staff, in addition to many members of our support staff, reside in Montgomery County. To remain in keeping with the spirit of the Governor’s containment action, TESD employees who are residents of Montgomery County should not report to work. As a result, we will be unable to operate our schools with such a limited number of staff. It is now necessary for us to move to the Closing component of our response plan.

Because Chester County is not in the containment area in the Governor’s declaration, we are able to make our schools accessible to students and families on Friday, March 13. Please feel welcome to visit your child’s school tomorrow during normal hours to gather anything you may need. A Child’s Place has informed us that they will email families directly with specifics regarding their program’s operations.

Earlier today, I sent a framework for a distance learning rollout to TESD students. Based on today’s information, we will revisit the timing of distance learning implementation and send a revised plan to staff and families tomorrow. I will be participating in a virtual meeting with the Secretary of Education tomorrow morning, where I hope to learn more information. The impact of this closing on the last day of school will also be shared in a later communication.

Today Governor Wolf also provided guidance for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in response to COVID-19. In his address, he made further statewide recommendations to mitigate the spread of illness:

  • Suspending large gatherings, events, conferences of 250 individuals or more, and
  • Limiting travel to recreational activities like gyms, movie theaters and shopping malls

If you have concerns about yourself or a member of the TESD community being exposed to COVID-19, please contact your primary healthcare provider. Additionally, the CCHD now has a self-reporting online tool available on their webpage. We have also created a District email account, HealthInfo@tesd.net, to share questions, comments, or concerns related to COVID-19 as it relates to the District. We will need some time as an administrative staff to sort through some of the major questions we expect many of you to have.

These are extraordinary times, and I make this decision after careful consideration of an array of alternatives. I do believe this is the right decision for our District at this time, and I trust that the strength of our community will continue to shine brightly as we manage this crisis together.

Sincerely,

Dr. Richard Gusick
Superintendent of Schools

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