The Northampton Area School Board met on Monday, May 24 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss plans for graduation and the 2021-22 school year.
Graduation will take place on Friday, June 4 at 7 p.m. with rain dates on June 5 and 6. Since graduates will be seated 3 to 4 feet apart in the stadium, they will not be required to wear masks. Guests will not be required to wear masks either, unless they are leaving their seats.
Next year, the board is planning for schools to be open five days a week on a full schedule. Whether or not masks will be required is still up in the air, and will depend on CDC and/ or state mandates. Online learning will still be offered to a degree, as long as the demand is there, which may not be known until July or August 2021. However, if the demand for online learning is there, a teacher from one elementary school may be the online learning teacher for all second graders across the district, according to the school board.
Students cannot have more than 18 absences throughout the past school year, cannot have failed any online courses, and must commit to a full marking period of online learning in order to enroll in the online learning program for the next school year.
In other news, Giant Food Stores presented the district with a check for almost $9,500 that will go towards students who cannot afford lunch. The money came from customers rounding up their purchases to donate. Also, the spring athletic teams were congratulated for their performances this season with the ongoing pandemic and restrictions.
The next school board meeting will be held on Monday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Northampton Area Middle School cafeteria; the budget will be discussed and voted on at this meeting.
