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UNION TWP. &mdash; The Northwest Area School Board approved an updated plan Wednesday for the opening of school Sept. 8, giving parents a choice between a hybrid program with two groups of students taking turns learning in the schools two days per week while the other group learns at home streaming the same lessons live online, or the asynchronous district virtual academy option.
				The hybrid plan is similar to what several other local districts plan. Group A would attend in-person classes at the schools Monday and Tuesday while Group B would attend live online at home. The groups would reverse Thursday and Friday with Group B in school and Group A at home. Wednesday all would have lessons at home while the schools would be deep cleaned.
				Parents who are not comfortable attending any live classes would enroll in the district cyber academy, which provides lessons asynchronously.
				Superintendent Joseph Long stressed that, under a new state mandate, students in the schools will have to wear masks all the time except when eating and for possible 10 minute breaks at the teacher&rsquo;s discretion.
				Arrangements are being worked out to make sure that the students get breakfasts and lunches for the three days they would not be in school in the hybrid system. families will have to sign up for them.
				Long also announced that, if there are fall sports, there will be no spectators, but the district has purchased equipment so it can stream all home events live online. The plan is to charge $5 to access the live-stream of each event, but he noted that is cheaper for a family than buying several tickets to get into an event. The money will help offset the cost of streaming and make up for revenue lost by not selling spectator tickets.
				The board approved the purchase of new tables and chairs for the high school cafeteria. Some of the older tables are missing pieces, which makes it difficult to clean and sanitize. The older tables that are still in good shape will be sent to other district schools. The total cost is about $32,000, but the auditorium renovations are coming in under budget by about that much if not a little more.
				And Long announced the district secured one grant for $16,500 and is anticipating another for about $17,000, both to go toward addressing internet connectivity issues for students.

Northwest Area offering choice of hybrid education or asynchronous cyber school