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WRIGHT TWP. &mdash; Near the start of Thursday&rsquo;s Crestwood School Board meeting Superintendent Robert Mehalick unveiled his recommendation for getting students back into school, stressing the slow roll out beginning Feb. 8 and ending April 6 could be done more quickly if the cases of COVID-19 drop dramatically in coming weeks. 
				According to the plan:
				Feb. 8 &mdash; students with &ldquo;low incidence disabilities&rdquo; (such as autistic support and life skills) will return.
				Feb. 17 &mdash; elementary learning support students will return.
				March 1 &mdash; All elementary students in kindergarten through grade 2 will return in hybrid mode, as well as &ldquo;targeted high school students,&rdquo; which Mehalick said includes students with special needs and special circumstances.
				March 8 &mdash; All elementary students in grades 3 through six will return in hybrid mode.
				April 6 &mdash; All high school students in grades 7 through 12 would return in hybrid mode, and possibly in full-time mode if the pandemic has subsided sufficiently and vaccinations have become widespread.
				Referring specifically to the March 1 plan, Mehalick said &ldquo;We are hoping they will be back sooner, we are prepared to have them back sooner,&rdquo; and that the district is watching the COVID-19 data closely. &ldquo;Over the last two weeks we had some cases that infected our faculty and students,&rdquo; but expect the cases to lessen.
				Several parents submitted questions online regarding the plan, including one who asked why wait until March to bring elementary students back when the state recommendations how suggest they could return in hybrid mode as soon as Jan. 25.
				The state ranks counties as having &ldquo;substantial,&rdquo; &ldquo;moderate&rdquo; and &ldquo;low&rdquo; risk of COVID-19 transmission based on number of new case over the last seven days and the percentage of tests coming back positive. Luzerne County has been in substantial status for months. Initially the state recommended remote-only learning for districts in &ldquo;substantial&rdquo; counties, but recently revised the recommendation to suggest elementary students in those counties could return in hybrid mode if the district felt its situation allowed that.
				Mehalick said he is proposing the slow roll out to avoid a surge in cases within the district that could force a return to remote-only for all students. He also said he believes the district could be held liable &ldquo;if I knowingly put kids or our staff in a situation&rdquo; where they were not safe from the disease.
				During the voting session, the board approved a resolution to keep any property tax increase within a state cap known as the Act 1 index. Crestwood&rsquo;s limit is 3.7% for the 2021-22 school year.

Crestwood proposes gradual return to classroom from Feb. 8 through April 6