Dear MTSD Families,
We facilitated our third, and last, Steering Committee meeting last evening. The committee heard updated information about our planning for the reopening of schools, including the additional safety measures issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. This information includes public health standards to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 for social distancing, face coverings, hand hygiene, and cleaning and disinfecting in our school settings. The committee also received information about the health and safety planning for the district athletic program.
A significant portion of the meeting involved the provision of detailed information about the MT Virtual Academy (MTVA), one of the previously proposed educational options for families who desire for their student to receive instruction remotely. In addition to the MTVA option for online learning, a new option was also proposed to the committee. This option is in response to feedback from Steering Committee members and other parents in the district. The new instructional option is called HyFlex (hybrid-flexible), and offers the option for students to receive some or all of their instruction from home, like the MT Virtual Academy, but students would be engaged synchronously (and sometime asynchronously) through participation in their regularly scheduled classroom(s), with their Manheim Township teacher(s). We are moving forward with developing this additional option for remote learning for the fall.
The Steering Committee also received responses to many of the most frequently asked questions offered by the committee following the last meeting on July 7. Feedback data from that second meeting brought 43 pages of questions and/or comments that were later reviewed, organized, and considered by the six Task Forces. These responses were also linked to similar questions and comments that have been given to the district via the feedback email posted on the district “Reopening Our Schools” webpage: public_relations@mtwp.net. The Task Forces take all responses under consideration.
As with the previous two Steering Committee meetings, we will post the video of the July 21 meeting on our website later this week, along with the PowerPoint that holds the information. The final Health and Safety Plan will be presented at a special School Board Meeting on Thursday, July 30, at 7:00pm in the high school auditorium. The meeting will also be live streamed for public viewing.
We will continue to keep you updated in our planning process by posting all information on our website at the Planning for Reopening of Schools Fall 2020 page. Thank you for your continued support in our planning efforts.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robin L. Felty
Superintendent of Schools
As part of our comprehensive planning process, on Tuesday, July 21, we facilitated our third and final Steering Committee meeting. The third meeting focused on the Health and Safety Plan, as well as instructional programming options for this fall, including detailed information on our MT Virtual Academy. You may click through the presentation below, or you can click here to watch a recorded video of the Steering Committee #3 that took place on July 21.