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LCCC trustees approve new contract with support staff workers

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Pa. expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility

YATESVILLE &mdash; At Tuesday&rsquo;s School Board Meeting, Pittston Area Superintendent Kevin Booth said the district is reviewing multiple scenarios to get elementary students back into schools in a hybrid format some time after the start of the second semester Feb. 1. He also stressed the importance of parents responding to questions about what mode they want their children to be part of, to make planning easier.
				&ldquo;A big part of the plan is input from the community and parents,&rdquo; he said. A survey was sent out about two months ago but preferences for &ldquo;upward of 900&rdquo; students have not been heard.
				Even if the district opens elementary schools to hybrid learning &mdash; as a change in state guidance says they can &mdash; the district still needs to know if students will stay in virtual-only mode or return to part-time in person hybrid lessons. &ldquo;Both options are available,&rdquo; Booth said. &ldquo;We are not going to say every student needs to come back. We want people to come back when they feel comfortable. But if you are coming back we need to know.&rdquo;
				Booth urged families that have not responded with a choice to go on the district&rsquo;s Skyward system and do so.
				Booth did not give a timeline for resuming any in-person classes. The state had been recommending districts in counties with &ldquo;substantial&rdquo; risk of transmission use remote-only learning, but recently changed that to say remote-only or hybrid models are acceptable in substantial counties for elementary grades and special needs students. The state still recommends middle and high schools remain in full-remote in a &ldquo;substantial&rdquo; county. Luzerne County has been deemed at substantial risk for months.
				Tax hike resolution
				During the voting session, the School Board unanimously approved a resolution promising to keep any property tax increase at or below a state-set limit known as the Act 1 Index. The limit can vary by district and by year, but boards that pass such a resolution get more time to approve a preliminary budget.
				The only ways to exceed the limit are to get voter approval in the spring primary or to get state approval for a narrow number of exceptions. Those two moves require preliminary budgets to be drawn up much earlier in the year.
				The Pittston Area Act 1 Index for the 2021-22 school year is 3.9%

Pittston Area looking to return students to school, agrees to tax hike limit