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YATESVILLE &mdash; Pittston Area School Board voted Tuesday to drop last month&rsquo;s plan to open with a hybrid model of learning and move to a fully-remote model for the first quarter of the upcoming school year.
				At the start of the meeting Superintendent Kevin Booth said the recommendation to switch to full remote came in large part because of outbreaks of COVID-19 at universities and school districts that opened early elsewhere. He cited the University of North Carolina, which went to full-remote learning Monday after recording hundreds of positive cases within days of re-opening, as well as news from Georgia that a school district ordered hundreds of students, teachers and staff to self-quarantine after dozens of positive tests just days after opening.
				&ldquo;The decision to move to a full virtual learning platform has been a very difficult one, but one we feel will present our staff and our students the safest return to school for the first quarter,&rdquo; Booth said.
				The board unanimously approved the motion to go full remote unanimously.
				Booth said the online classes will be taught live by district faculty using Microsoft Teams and following the district curriculum. As much as possible, students will have the same daily schedule they would have in school. Knowing that some students may not be able to participate at the scheduled time, sessions will be recorded for later viewing. Faculty will be available at multiple times during the week for assistance, and students can make appointments to meet virtually with teachers.
				All students must log on at some point during the day to be recorded as attending school that day. Grades will be given the same as if in school. Breakfasts and lunches will be made available every day for pick up. The district will be providing a Chromebook computer to all students, and an internet hot spot connection to those who do not have internet access. The district is using the Schoology learning platform to coordinate online resources.
				Parents of special education students will be contacted with comprehensive information to help assure students get the services and monitoring they need.
				The district dress code will not apply to students at home, but students will be given expectations for how to dress while on line.
				While the switch to remote-only learning was the big news, the board took other action, including renewing Booth&rsquo;s contract, set to expire in January, extending it another five years to Jan. 25, 2026. Booth thanked the board for its confidence in his performance.
				The board also approved a complicated tax break program known as &ldquo;Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance&rdquo;, or LERTA, for a piece of deteriorated property in Jenkins Township known as the &ldquo;Industrial Distribution Center.&rdquo; LERTA tax breaks only apply to new construction for a fixed number of years, not the taxable property itself. The idea is to encourage new development while not losing all the property tax income for taxing bodies that include the county, municipality and school district.
				Provided terms of the agreement are met, this LERTA grants 100% tax reduction on new or improved development the first 5 years, with the amount dropping 10% each of the next five years, to 50% the tenth year. The tax break ends completely the 11th year.

Pittston Area drops hybrid plan, will be full remote for first quarter