Apr 9, 2020 5 min read

Continuing his efforts to protect the health and safety of students and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf today announced that all schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. In accordance with the directive, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh ordered its schools to remain closed as well.

The governor made the decision in consultation with Secretary of Health Rachel Levine and Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera. Students and families can continue to pick up meals at designated sites.

Although schools are closed, teaching and learning may continue: Schools are strongly encouraged to provide continuity of education for all students in the most appropriate and accessible ways possible. PDE has secured resources intended to help all schools that want to use them – including those not currently offering online platforms, those requiring additional technology support, and those that may rely on traditional methods, such as paper lessons, to continue educating students. There is no cost to schools or students for these resources.

“We must continue our efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus during this national crisis,” Wolf said. “This was not an easy decision, but closing schools until the end of the academic year is in the best interest of our students, school employees and families.”

Rivera said the administration’s primary consideration has always been to make the best decision in the context of student and community health and safety.

“While the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation efforts have created uncertainty in our schools and communities, today’s action to close schools for the remainder of the academic year provides school communities with predictability and understanding of the conditions under which they’ll be operating and serving students,” Rivera said. “As schools and communities adapt to the prolonged school closure, PDE will continue to work with our state, educational, and business and nonprofit partners to meet the needs of students.”

The most recent decision applies to all public K-12 schools, brick and mortar and cyber charter schools, private and parochial schools, career and technical centers and intermediate units. All Department of Education early learning program classrooms, including those for Pre-K Counts, Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP) and Preschool Early Intervention, will also remain closed.

Colleges and universities may not resume in-person instruction or reopen their physical locations until the governor permits them to open or lifts the closure of non-life-sustaining businesses.

Schools will remain closed though the end of the 2019-20 academic year as it is defined by the local school calendar. Under the state’s directive, schools could begin summer programming on the day after their academic year ends. Rivera added that all reopenings will be contingent on public health guidance provided by the secretary of health and stay-at-home orders issued by the governor.

In a conference call with the media Thursday afternoon, Rivera said his department has not yet provided guidelines to districts on how to plan for this upcoming budget season, as they are required by law to approve a 2020-21 fiscal budget by the end of June. Though the pandemic could have a historical impact on districts’ budgets for next year, Rivera emphasized that “educators and personnel are still working hard and putting in, for many cases, more hours than they did before.”

Rivera said during the conference call that the biggest challenge in the next few months will be “connecting students to the resources they need to continue education.” He said more than 300 districts have submitted continuity of education plans so far, while others are working with their intermediate units on technology support. Rivera said that while he doesn’t have the authority to mandate continuity of education by law, he strongly encouraged the parents and communities to hold their schools accountable for continued learning.

Thursday’s announcement came as no surprise to Annie Whitehead, a Peters Township mother of four school-age children.

“I was expecting it, just based on what we’re seeing in Washington and Allegheny counties and the amount of infection,” she said.

“Peters Township School District has an online presence that they are starting on the 13th. I just assumed this is what we would be doing for the rest of the year. … I don’t know how logistically I’m going to home-school four children” who range in age from 6½ to 14, although they all have their own electronic devices for distance learning.

“The teachers have been really supportive,” she continued. “Our school district is unbelievable. They’re on top of it. I have confidence they’ll make it work, for sure.”

The kindergarten team at Pleasant Valley Elementary School, including her youngest child’s teacher, has set up a Facebook group for story time and maintaining interaction among pupils, and the Whiteheads have downloaded an ABCmouse.com program.

It happened to work out that each child in the family is now in a transition year. From a half-day program, her kindergartner will be heading to full days in first grade. Her 9-year-old was in what was to be his last year at Pleasant Valley before entering McMurray Elementary. The 12-year-old will be leaving McMurray Elementary behind for the middle school, and her middle-schooler, 14, is moving on to high school.

The three oldest “will never get to say good-bye to their schools,” she said.

The weather has often been mild enough that the family can spend time outdoors in their yard and neighborhood. And although Whitehead said the children miss their school friends and their teachers, “I appreciate this home-centered kind of life,” she said. “It’s slowed down. I like having no stuff on the schedule.”