School District of Philadelphia releases results of reopening survey

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia's school district superintendent released the results of a reopening survey on Tuesday.

More than 36,000 people responded to the survey, Dr. William Hite said.

Among the findings: 47 percent of the 15,000 parents/guardians who completed the survey said they would send their children back to school under current circumstances.

That number rose to 62 percent if safety measures are in place.

Twenty-eight percent of school-based staff and 27 percent of parents would feel most comfortable if students were sent back in shifts on alternating days of the week.

Twenty-four percent of school-based staffers and 21 percent of parents/guardians said they would prefer students attend school daily, but in shifts.

According to the district, the survey also found the top three safety measures that respondents believe would help with "the development of a safe and effective reopening plan" are mask-wearing (30 percent), daily building cleaning (14 percent), and handwashing/sanitizer stations (14 percent).

Hite also addressed the launch of a town hall series, in which the public can hear from district leaders on health, safety, digital learning, curriculum, scheduling and more.

The town hall meetings are "an opportunity for the public to share additional feedback on what a return to school will look like for the 2020-2021 school year," the district said.

More information about the town hall sessions and more additional opportunities to provide feedback can be found at https://www.philasd.org/coronavirus/schoolstart2020/

Dr. Hite said the district's goal is to have a full reopening plan released next week so students, families and staff can start to prepare for the fall.