The Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School is planning to return to in-person classes five days a week beginning March 8.

At Thursday's meeting of the school's joint operating committee, Executive Director Regina Hiler told members that students currently attend classes in-person Mondays through Thursdays, and Friday classes are conducted online.

Hiler said the school has one active case of COVID-19, and three people are in quarantine.

Mitigation efforts like wearing face masks will remain in place when five days of in-person instruction resumes, she said.

The county is in the moderate COVID-19 transmission level, she added.

The state departments of health and education recommended a blended instruction model involving in-person and remote instruction when counties are in moderate transmission levels.

Committee member Frederick Peterson Jr. cautioned that the plan to return to five days of in-person classes could change if there is a spike in cases.

Attendance during online classes has been an issue, Hiler said.

In September, October and November, when some classes were held in-person and some online, attendance fell from 96% to 92% to 83%, respectively. In December, when no in-person classes were held, online attendance was 80%. In January and February, when some classes in-person classes were held, attendance was 83% and 87%, respectively.

Some students reported being confused about which days they were supposed to go to school and which days they were supposed to have online classes, she said.

Other students said they were helping their younger siblings with their school work and helping to care for family members, and some found jobs, said Jared Ryan, principal and assistant director,

He said some students logged in after school hours to get their assignments and completed their work, but they were counted as absent because they didn't log in while class was in session. Some of those students had more than the 10 allowable absences per semester, but still earned passing grades and were given credit for the classes, Ryan said.