MILL HALL — With students in the Keystone Central School District set to return to classrooms this coming Monday, Superintendent Jacquelyn Martin wants parents to be confident of their kids’ return.

“Keystone Central School District is ready to transition from a full remote model to a hybrid model of instruction beginning on Monday,” Martin said.

Martin said that students have been divided into two different “cohorts” and will be attending school on scheduled days. The hybrid format, Martin said, will aid the district in complying with the attestation requirements that were approved by the board and the Pennsylvania Department of Education in November.

Additionally, Martin noted that earlier Thursday the Pennsylvania Department of Health along with PDE announced new recommendations for elementary students based on recent studies.

“They believe elementary students are at very low risk for COVID-19 and the harmful effects of not having in-person instruction are more detrimental than the risk of contracting the deadly virus. They permitted each district to determine their own instructional model and to consider this new information,” Martin said.

She said that she plans to seek additional information and work with her administrative team to determine when “we can follow the recommendation with compliance and to the safety precautions.”

Martin said that there would be “more to come on that” after the district gets rolling with its hybrid model.

Instructors in special education are working with parents and students to provide “COVID compensatory education.”

“(That) includes after school instruction two days a week for students with disabilities,” Martin said. “This program also begins next week and we’ve been able to use grant monies to cover the additional costs and salaries and the transportation.”

Grant money has also been put to use for an after school tutoring program at Central Mountain High School as well, Martin said.

“We are focusing on students who struggle with attendance and academics or need credit recovery,” she said.

The program is currently limited to students at CMHS.

In other business Thursday night:

— The board heard a presentation from John Compton of the firm Baker Tilly. He said the district is in “a pretty solid financial position.” According to Compton, at the end of the last fiscal year the district had revenues of $2.8 million more than budgeted and expenditures at $1.067 million less than budgeted. Compton remarked that the district was $3.6 million better than the 2020 document had anticipated. The district’s fund balance is currently $15.6 million, he said.

— Martin said the district is “anxiously” awaiting information regarding vaccine distribution for high school employees.

“We have learned that our school nurses should be included in Phase 1A,” Martin said. She said the district has a location for vaccine distribution, it is just waiting on a date.

“As soon as we know anything for our employees, we will get that out to everyone,” Martin said.

— KCSD recognized its board members during a slideshow. In a release, Martin said:

“In honor of school board commitments to students, schools and communities, January is once again designated School Director Recognition Month in our Commonwealth. Pennsylvania public schools educate nearly 2 million students and 3688 are in our district. The nine members of each local school board are a key part of the district’s success, making informed decisions that shape public schools and provide a pathway to success for every student.

“School directors, who are unpaid, elected officials, devote (on average) up to 10 hours per month to the challenging and complex responsibilities of board business, including adopting policy, voting on budgets, evaluating school security issues and reviewing hiring decisions. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has added an additional challenge to school boards, as they determine how best to provide for the needs of students and their families in this new environment.”

Six of the nine school board memebers were present for Thursday’s work session.

The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14 for a voting session. That meeting will be held via Zoom.