This school year is turning out to be a guessing game for most Pennsylvania districts.

In a 57-page document released hours before Gov. Tom Wolf suggested fall sports be postponed, Butler Area School District indicated it knows that. And it's preparing to meet those guesses with the addition of a new level in its health and safety plan.

“We were asked (in June) to prepare plans for how we would operate in the yellow designation as well as how we would operate in the green,” said Brian White, superintendent. “Since then, the state has issued additional mandates, but we are still in the green designation.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has directed schools to begin “phased reopenings” based on the color of the county.

For those that have gone green, like Butler County, schools are permitted to offer in-person instruction after developing a written health and safety plan. Plans need to be approved by school boards and then posted on district websites.

In June, Butler submitted a plan to the Department of Education that adhered to the state's red, yellow and green standards for counties. But since establishing those standards this spring, the state's COVID-19 numbers have risen.

Instead of redefining the red-yellow-green system, state officials have thus far been handling a rise in cases by issuing additional mandates. In response, Butler Area developed “Enhanced Green.”

“Our reopening plan had to change to accommodate the additional mandates, guidelines and recommendations,” White said. “That is how we came up with the 'Enhanced Green' designation.”

Practices in place for Enhanced Green for kindergarten through grade four include social distancing, staggered recess times and hand-washing breaks. Also, students will remain in class during the day while a core group of teachers shifts between rooms.

At the middle school level, Enhanced Green means students will learn in academic teams. Teams will be tailored in size and location for social distancing. Teachers will once again travel between classes instead of students, with instructional supports in place.

Intermediate and senior high students will follow their regular class schedules. Any student who is unable to wear a mask in situations where social distancing can't be maintained will be asked to attend class in an alternative, remote location.

The swimming pool and locker rooms won't be open in the Enhanced Green phase. Lockers will be assigned, but not required to be used.

Live streaming may be used when a class is split into multiple locations for capacity purposes. This will allow for simultaneous instruction.

The district is also offering Flexible Traditional School for secondary students. This “Learning Pathway” allows students to physically be in class twice a week and attend from home on three days.

The district's initial three Learning Pathways — which are traditional, online/cyber and hybrid models — will remain available all year.

“Unless the governor issues a mandatory closure, we intend to open our schools,” White said. “We will continue to strive to support our students academically, socially and emotionally.”

Information about arrival, dismissal, transportation, lunch, orientation, health screening and other crowd activities is available on the district's website. How the district will handle confirmed or probable cases in accordance with Department of Education rules is also detailed in the plan.

Lists of suggested school supplies will be emailed to district families and posted, according to the health and safety plan.