93-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news updates with Kathy Romano.

Today is Friday, July 24th. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning. In the news this morning, in an eight-hour meeting that ended after midnight,

Philadelphia school board members heard from more than 100 parents voicing their concerns on sending

kids back to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday night, officials presented experts to

try to ease those fears. The choice of many parents in Philadelphia is whether they want their

children attending school two days a week or choosing to go completely

virtual. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley and his assistant, Dr. Stacey Callum,

said they looked at studies in Australian Ireland where schools have reopened. Schools are not

hot spots for COVID-19 transmission, said Callum. We see no evidence that schools are important,

we see no evidence that schools are important contributors to community-wide transmission. We do think schools in Philadelphia should open up for on-site instruction this fall, Farley said. But already in just one day, 2,000 of the 125,000 students in the Philadelphia School District have opted for online learning only when schools are set to reopen

on September 2nd.

Superintendent Dr. William Haidt said face-to-face learning is particularly important for children

from circumstances of poverty.

I worry about these children falling further and further behind without the assistance of

some face-to-face instructions at height.

He asked for another week to rework his reopening plan.

The meeting ended with no decision just after 1230 this morning.

And school officials voted to recess until next Thursday at 4 p.m., so they'll resume this again next week.

Do you guys know anybody that thrived in the last quarter of the school or less trimester?

Because I do.

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