Local school districts make adjustments to continue educating students in extended blackout

CHARTIERS VALLEY, Pa. — Class is back in session at Chartiers Valley Primary School, but that’s not the case district-wide.

“In previous years, I had reached out to the Department of Education and been approved for emergency waivers for special circumstances, power outages like this I thought would fall into that category,” said Dr. Daniel Castagna who is the Superintendent at Chartiers Valley.

But the state said no, forcing the district to make a decision: if the district closed on Thursday, then there would be a loss of education hours, which would push back graduation. So, with power in the elementary schools, the students went to school and the middle and high schools, with no power, were remote.

“We obviously have a loose expectation for families that don’t have power, they can’t even charge their cell phones or computers at home, so we said do the best you can, we just have to get the day in,” Castagna said.

With many areas still facing road closures, transportation is a huge piece. Frye Transportation in Beaver County had a similar situation with one of its school districts only opening two of the three buildings. Owner DJ Frye told Channel 11 they made route adjustments for almost every district due to downed trees and power lines.

Even with the challenges, the students who went to school showed up, as the Chartiers Valley Primary School had 93 percent attendance on Thursday.

“Some of our staff do have to be home and take care of their families and their needs, but we are an all-hands-on-deck facility, so we have staff stepping in to make sure these kids get whatever they need,” said Deidra Stepko, who is the Primary Principal.

Yet there are still many districts still without power and no remote learning like Montour and South Fayette. These districts will take it day by day and some leaders said they aren’t anticipating the power back until early next week.

Click here for a list of schools that will be closed.

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