Butler Area School District administrators now have another option to try to give secondary students the best education possible.
During a meeting Monday, the Butler School Board approved a request from Superintendent Dr. Brian White to add an addendum to the district’s Phased Reopening Plan.
This new Hybrid/Cohort Model will allow secondary students to attend socially distanced class in person two or three days every week and online for the others after being divided in half based on last name.
Currently Butler County has been designated as having “Substantial” COVID infection by the state Department of Health with a 7-day average infection rate of 111 cases per 100,000 residents. The Hybrid/Cohort Model would be an option for the district at rates of between 41 and 80 cases per 100,000.
According to White, more information is expected from the state on Friday.
“As of Friday, if we’re still at the substantial level of transmission, the Department of Health will recommend that all districts move to remote instruction,” White said. “It is a recommendation, not a requirement. You can choose to follow it or not follow it.”
Butler Area School District currently has 27 staff or faculty members excluded from work for being close contacts or having a COVID positive diagnosis. No school-based transmission has been confirmed.
