(La Porte, IN) - Today is the first day of school in La Porte.  La Porte Community School Corporation Superintendent Mark Francesconi says about 70-percent of students are expected to be in school for in-person instruction.  The rest have chosen the distance learning option and will be working online at home.

Mark Francesconi says he was surprised so many parents opted for in-school learning and is happy with the numbers which make it easier to provide for adequate social distancing.  He said students and teachers are required to wear masks if at least six feet of distance from others cannot be maintained.  Masks are also required on school buses.

School buildings will be open for in-person instruction five days a week for right now since 5.3-percent of people tested for COVID-19 are coming up positive in LaPorte County.  A six percent or higher positivity rate will mean fewer days school buildings would be open to students weekly.  Decisions on how many days school buildings are open will be based on the positivity rate every two weeks. 

Francesconi says there’s always going to be a percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 for the forseeable future so the plan is about returning to normal as much as possible and making adjustments if the COVID positive rates increase as the school year progresses.