Council Rock
During the Council Rock school board’s meeting earlier this month, approval was given to Superintendent Dr. Robert Fraser to close elementary classrooms that experience three or more COVID-19 cases in a five-day period for at least seven days. The board authorized principals to assign seats during lunch in the cafeteria (kids can pick their seat but they must stay in it each day) to make contact tracing efforts easier. This will be revisited at the next meeting.
Regarding quarantine, positive individuals must stay home for a minimum of three days. If they’re positive and asymptomatic on the fourth day, they can return to school on the condition they wear a mask, which is already a mandate for all students by the state. If they have not tested positive and were only exposed, students can continue going to school if asymptomatic.
Also authorized was to have students board school buses from rear to front and have siblings sit together in the same seat.
Bristol Borough
The Bristol Borough school board approved Superintendent Dr. Rose Minniti’s proposal to change the uniform policy for elementary schoolers, and simply have a dress and grooming policy for K-12. She said affording a uniform plus normal clothes has been a struggle for many parents.
“We don’t want to exclude elementary students from school if they’re coming in and they don’t have the uniform on,” Minniti said.
Sworn in was new school board member Anthony Smith, who is filling the empty seat of Nunzio DeMarchis, who recently resigned. Also in the running was Dorie Morgan, but she didn’t get the majority vote from the board.
Additionally, Minniti is leaving her two-year reign as superintendent on Oct. 4. At that time, longtime district superintendent Dr. Tom Shaffer, who retired in 2019, will take her place until a permanent superintendent is found.
Neshaminy
There was a call for Neshaminy CORE Swimming & Diving to resume practice as soon as possible. Students haven’t had practice for over a year due to COVID-19. The board is slated to meet by Oct. 1 to “review current conditions and decide on a path forward.” If CORE is granted permission to resume, practice is tentatively scheduled to begin Oct. 11, with evaluations planned for the week prior.
Centennial
Changes were made to the health and safety plan to align with most new guidance from the local and state health departments. A point of contention for board member Mary Alice Brancato was guidance that all eligible students and staff receive the vaccine. When she asked Superintendent Dr. Dana Bedden if Centennial would implement a vaccine mandate in the future, he said “no.” Additionally, even if the administration recommended it, Bedden said it would have to receive board approval.
A brief recess was taken after board president Patti Crossan asked several attendees to put masks on, but they refused, stating a mask mandate is against the law.
“You can’t follow the law so you need to run away,” accused one woman as Crossan called for a recess. “Show us the law!”
