The Beaver Area school board has decided to give the whole "returning to school during a pandemic" thing another chance.

The school board session dedicated to reopening all of the district's school buildings took place January 11 over Zoom.

After taking public comment, being advised by local ER chief Dr. Woodske, and laying out their reopening plan, the board voted in favor of returning students to in-person schooling Wednesday, January 20.

With this start being a few days before the end of the first semester (January 25), some parents raised concerns that this start date would be arbitrary, overly inconvenient, and potentially confusing for high school students who begin new classes in the second semester. Proposals for a later start date were rejected by the board, however.

The board's vote was a departure from their opinion in late December, when the board voted nearly unanimously to delay returning to school due to increased Covid case numbers across the state and country. With cases still relatively high, it is unclear what changed the board's mind on this matter.

The reopening strategy will be basically unchanged from the first attempt: plastic dividers provided to students, masks strongly encouraged in the hallway and classroom, and the ability for students to remain virtual if they so choose.

It was unclear how many students would be staying home. If statistics from the first attempt hold true, about 20 percent of students will remain virtual.

Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting techniques also will remain. To facilitate deep cleans, Wednesdays will be virtual so that the custodial staff can better treat surfaces.

While the first attempt of opening the school lasted just four in-person days, students are still optimistic about being in school a little longer this time.

"I think we'll make it through at least [January] 29 this time," said senior Grace Druschel.

Other students are less hopeful.

"We'll make it through the end of the month. Then we'll be at home for the rest of the year," predicted junior Ryan Kenney.

At the very least, we'll be seeing a lot more of each other for the next few weeks. Well, until too many contract COVID, that is.