UPDATE: Philadelphia schools to go virtual
After two days of limiting outdoor playtime and activities playtime, the School District of Philadelphia opted on Thursday to finish out the week by shifting to virtual learning for Friday.
In a statement posted to its website, the district said that, because there was no reason to believe Philadelphia's air quality would rise above the "Code Red" zone for the remainder of the week, out of an abundance of caution, school would operate remotely.
Original article follows
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — For a second day, the unhealthy air quality from smoke carried on the wind from Canadian wildfires, has forced city school activities indoors. About half of the 200 buildings in the School District of Philadelphia don’t have full air conditioning, which presents some challenges to schools who are trying to protect students’ health.
Administrators, students and parents have had to adapt. That’s why there was a bouncy house inside John Moffet Elementary in East Kensington.
Plan A had it outside, for the school’s annual Fun Day. But on this day, students are playing street hockey in the cafeteria and soccer in the hallways.
“We know how to navigate and pivot,” Principal Rodney Johnson said. “I think that’s one thing that the COVID pandemic has taught us, is how do you have to pivot and do what’s best for your school community.”
Fifth grader Sebastian Carter says he doesn’t mind.
“I’m thinking it’s going to be fine, since the whole school is so big and all the students can fit in the school,” he said.
The school district is encouraging students to wear masks to and from school. And while students are kept indoors, the district has ordered that classroom windows stay closed.
For Timothy Armstrong, a fifth grader at Moffet, that’s not a big deal.
“It’s okay, because usually there’s some outside noise, so it gets you distracted from class,” he said.
Johnson says he’s working to keep conditions safe.
“We have air purifiers that the school district has provided us. We make sure that we have the air purifiers on.”
Related
Moffett has air conditioning, but 91 of the district’s school buildings are not fully air conditioned — including Spring Garden Elementary, where Ivy Pea’s daughter is in kindergarten.
“As parents, we worry about them being able to breathe correctly in class. That will cause them to fall asleep if they’re hot and not getting the best air quality,” Pea said.
She says it’s fortunate that the weather hasn’t been all that hot, during this smoky spell.
“I’m going to monitor the air quality. If it looks crazy, then I’m going to come get her. Of course, we’ll have masks. We just ran outside this morning and didn’t really think that it would be this way again today.”
Related
