Seneca Valley School District students will have the option to learn in person five days a week beginning the week of March 22.

At a school board meeting Monday, directors approved a plan to move all K-12 students from the current Monday-through-Thursday in-person learning model to a five-day-a-week in-person system, with the first Friday for in-person learning being March 26.

The district moved primary students from a blended learning model, with two cohorts of students sorted by last name attending either Monday and Tuesday or Wednesday and Thursday to the current model earlier this year. Secondary students soon followed.

Now, however, with the transmission of COVID-19 decreased in the county and the availability of vaccines to teachers and school employees, the district decided it was better to give students as much face time as possible.

“We're trying to get kids back, elementary especially,” superintendent Tracy Vitale said.

The outside temperature is gradually rising, as is the district's optimism in terms of COVID-19. While the world isn't out of the woods yet, there's cause for positivity, Vitale said, even if mitigation measures must be taken.

“Today outside was the first day for spring sports,” she said. “Absolutely beautiful. Kids were enjoying themselves on the field.

“We won't want to disrupt anything that we've worked so hard to get. As I said in an all-staff email today, let's cross the finish line together safely.”

Although the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV is in charge of the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, that doesn't cut down on individual school district work or coordination.Vitale said the district and its employees had worked through the weekend in an attempt to get more vaccines than they had originally been allotted.The district had been allocated just 345 vaccinations, “not even close to covering our teachers,” let alone employees and contractors, Vitale said.But several school districts in the intermediate unit — including Shenango Area, Commodore Perry and Hermitage districts — had been allocated more inoculations than there were employees interested. By working with those districts, Vitale said, Seneca received some or all of their unutilized slots.“Anyone that wants to get the J&J vaccine will be scheduled to get it,” she said.As the teachers and employees are inoculated against COVID-19, Vitale added, the district may have to suddenly shift a school to asynchronous remote learning for a day. Parents will be notified, but it may be on short notice.Vitale also asked parents to continue to be proactive in the fight against the virus and its spread in schools. She asked parents not to send ill students to school, and not to send a student to school when someone in the household is awaiting the result of a COVID-19 test.