High school students in the Altoona Area School District will go back to school virtually for up to a month this fall.

While students in Kindergarten through eighth grade are scheduled to return to in-person instruction on Aug. 31, high school students will begin the year learning virtually because of delays in the construction schedule of the new high school.

“J.C. Orr is working 10-hour days, overtime and Saturdays. They want to be done on time,” Superintendent Charles Prijatelj said. “At the same time, we didn’t want to be in a position of two weeks before school finding out we are not going to make it and have to go virtual.”

Prijatelj said that contractors lost about eight weeks of construction time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said in spite of the lost time, the school is scheduled to be complete for the Aug. 31 deadline, but the decision was made to start the year off virtually, for at least four weeks, in case more unforeseen circumstances causes a delay.

He said the district has released a comprehensive school reopening plan as it gets ready to welcome students back to the classrooms for the first time since early March. While acknowledging that the COVID-19 situation is “fluid” and plans for reopening schools could change at any time, Prijatelj said the district is prepared for any scenario to give students a full education.

Prijatelj said making the decision now to begin the high school year off virtually gives teachers time to prepare. He said that although the high school students won’t be in the classroom, they will still be doing a full schedule.

“Kids are going to do their schedule,” he said. “They are going to have 45 minutes in English class, 45 minutes in math class and so on. They will do all their course work.”

Prijatelj said the virtual learning will line up with the curriculum and the students will have their required hours.

“The courses have to line up so we don’t lose time,” he said. “We want every kid to get all of their education fully from day one on.”

Prijatelj said the district has the people and equipment to do a full schedule, virtual school day, and if COVID-19 conditions would dictate, the district could move to full virtual “at the flip of a switch.”

“Who knows what will happen at the state level,” he said. “Voting to go virtual for one to four weeks could be a moot point in another four weeks if we can’t dull this curve and get this under control.”

Prijatelj said the district can go virtual in grades three through 12 with Chromebooks. He said the district has the tools to do it for Kindergarten through second grade, but said that comes with its own set of challenges.

“With the little kids, it would be hard to have them fire up a Chromebook or laptop,” he said. “That’s a different challenge and we have the pieces in place to do that, but we are hoping that we are not going to have to worry about it.”

The school reopening plan, which is available to view on the district’s website, calls for social distancing, frequent disinfecting, and the wearing of face coverings or shields in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained.

Students also will be given a temperature check every morning before entering any of the buildings.

Prijatelj said there will be a full virtual option for students who do not feel comfortable returning to the classroom because of health coancerns.

“I want every kid in every day, but that might not happen,” he said. “But we are going to be ready for whatever situation or format we have to use in the fall.”