Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District students will have the choice of attending classes in person or at home through distance learning or the A-C Valley Cyber Program when classes begin Aug. 26.

Students who choose face-to-face instruction and employees will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing in school.

Those are among the rules contained in the district's health and safety plan that was updated following Monday's school board meeting. The plan follows COVID-19 school reopening guidelines issued by the state.

“A-C Valley is now going to offer our community options and the opportunity to send your children to school for traditional face-to-face instruction or for you to keep your child at home in a distance learning format,” Superintendent David McDeavitt said in an update posted on the district website. “If you chose to keep your child at home, we will provide you with all the learning materials needed to be successful, such as packets of learning materials and/or a Chromebook.”

Staff and students will wear masks. Students with medical conditions are exempt, according to the updated health and safety plan.

Six feet of social distancing is required for students and staff.

Students will have social distance seating in cafeterias and lunch lines. Schedules will be created to allow small groups of students to eat lunch at the same time. Groups cannot exceed 250 students. Students can remove masks when eating lunch.

Buses will be limited to two students per seat. Siblings will be required to sit together and three siblings per seat is permitted. Buses will be disinfected after every run.

District employees will perform self-health checks and take temperatures before reporting to work, and stay home if they feel ill or have COVID-19 symptoms.

Employees and students who test positive for coronavirus are asked to report the diagnosis to their building administrator. Employees must obtain a release from a doctor before returning to work.

Cleaning and disinfecting high traffic areas and frequently touched surfaces in schools is also part of the plan.

The return-to-play plan calls for student athletes to wear masks while indoors. Masks and social distancing are required when they are close to others while outdoors. Cross country runners are encouraged to wear masks when running.

Coaches and students will be screened for symptoms before any workout or contest. Those showing symptoms should not be allowed to participate, and those with temperatures of 100.4 degrees or higher will be sent home.

No more than 10 people can gather inside and no more than 50 can gather outside.