Booth

Booth

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YATESVILLE — Pittston Area Superintendent Kevin Booth began Tuesday’s School Board meeting by explaining the football spectator admittance plan. He noted Gov. Tom Wolf has limited total crowd size to 250, including teams, coaches and staff, band and cheerleaders, and said that means about 40 people can be allowed in to watch most games.

The plan for this Friday’s home game against Berwick is to allow parents of senior football players, he said. At the next home game, the district would allow parents of senior cheerleaders and band members, and at the game after that other parents would have first right.

The rules could change and the district would adjust accordingly, but Booth said “we are asking that the public does not try to attend the game,” adding that anyone who shows up without a ticket will not be allowed on school grounds.

The virtual meeting itself was brief, with all agenda items approved unanimously, including awarding a contract for copying machines, numerous appointments, updated policies, teacher assignments and an agreement to contribute $3 per district student to the Pittston Memorial Library for the 2020-21 school year, totaling $9,639 for 3,213 students.

At the end of the meeting Booth read questions and comments sent in, including from one parent who praised teachers for the remote-only learning effort currently in place, but raising concerns about one of her children spending too many hours in front of the computer screen during live lessons. She suggested an early dismissal, with students getting a break before returning to the computer later to work on their own.

Booth noted the state still requires the district to have 900 hours of instruction for elementary students this school year and 990 for secondary students, but added that the goal was never to keep students in front of the screen all of the time, and said he would talk to administrators to see if modifications can be made.

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish