School will still be in-session on December 7th for Gibraltar Elementary students, but there will be fewer of them there. On a 7-0 vote, the Gibraltar Area School District Board voted in favor of a more phased-in approach for kids coming to the school building for the first time since March. Under the plan suggested by Gibraltar Superintendent Tina Van Meer, students in kindergarten, first, and second grades will report to class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Students in third, fourth, and fifth grades will be in the building on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The elementary school will operate under that model until January 11th when all of the district’s students are expected to report for in-person classes. Van Meer says the more phased-in approach will allow the district to keep a close eye on their protocols and make sure they are working.

The school district is still looking at the latest COVID-19 numbers to determine if it is safe to go to school, though now they are just looking at its three population tracts rather than the whole county.  Van Meer says a recent survey done by the district showed about 60 percent of their parents were willing to bring their kids back to school, which is down from 80 percent at the beginning of the year.