EASTON, Pa. The Easton Area School Board of Education met on Tuesday to discuss amendments to the current school calendar and provided a status update on virtual learning for students.

The district began implementing its flexible instruction plan on March 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Everyone has just stepped up and said what can I do, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Alyssa Emili said.

The district has made iPads available to students from grades 3 to 8 for instruction. Students in high school grades already take laptops home for instruction.

Some 2,100 iPads have been distributed allowing teachers to use district approved programs like Google Classroom, See Saw, Class Dojo and Zoom for instruction. For students who dont have internet access available, officials say, paper handouts were also distributed. The transition to online instruction has gone smoothly, the district said.

One reason why this has been so successful is because the investment into technology that had already been done in the district, Emili said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in the district having to make changes to the current district calendar. Several dates that had been for spring break and election day will now become a day for online instruction instead.

Students will now have online instruction on this upcoming Thursday, April 9 and April 28. Classes will not be held, as planned, on Friday, April 10 and April 13.

It does appear that will be able to end the school year on June 3 as the original date on the calendar, Superintendent David Piperato said.

The board is also looking to extend the interim tax deadline for payments. Currently, the discount tax deadline is June 7 and total payments August 2. Board officials hope to have those dates extended an additional 30 days, until Sept. 2, for total payments. That approval, however, has to be made on a municipal level. A resolution requesting the extension could be made at the boards April 21 public meeting.

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Easton school board gives progress report on flexible instruction in district - 69News WFMZ-TV