School districts grappling with COVID cases
Several Washington County school districts are dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks, which are forcing some to close schools and quarantine students.
Burgettstown Area School District has closed all of its schools – elementary, middle and high school – to in-person learning following multiple cases of coronavirus in the buildings.
For the week ending Nov. 6, Washington and Greene counties experienced moderate transmission levels of coronavirus.
The state Department of Health advises that school districts within counties that show moderate transmission levels conduct hybrid instruction or full remote instruction.
The decision regarding which educational model a school district uses remains up to the school district, and at a briefing on Monday, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the DOH doesn’t plan to completely shut down schools at this time.
In Washington School District, Washington Park Elementary School will be closed this week after three COVID cases were reported in the building. Classes will be taught online, with elementary students returning to the school beginning on Nov. 16.
“The district is taking the necessary preventative actions out of an abundance of caution to limit the potential spread of COVID,” said Dr. James Konrad, superintendent.
Peters Township High School is closed through Nov. 19 after 11 cases of COVID-19 were reported in a 48-hour period.
While the exposures were traced to outside events – Halloween parties and other gatherings – the district said “the potential for in-school spread is significant” because several students were in school just prior to testing positive.
In-person classes are set to resume at Peters Township Middle School and grades four through six at McMurray Elementary School after they were temporarily closed due to coronavirus cases.
Canon-McMillan School District’s Muse Elementary School, where one student and two teachers have tested positive for COVID-19, remains open after the district determined there was no evidence of in-school transmission.
A student at Canon-McMillan Middle School and a staff member at Wylandville Elementary School also have contracted the virus – bringing the total number of cases in the school district to 15 – but those schools also will remain open for now.
In-person classes have resumed at the high school following a closure due to COVID cases.
At Avella Area School District, an elementary schoolteacher tested positive for COVID-19, but the school remains open.
Ringgold Middle School was closed for seven days following as a result of coronavirus, but has re-opened.
Washington School District’s Konrad, who is in regular contact with other local superintendents, said school districts are “going to continue to navigate this the best we can.
“It’s not an easy thing. There are going to be hiccups, and we’re going to have to pivot,” Konrad said. It’s not an easy time, but I commend everyone’s efforts. We’re doing the best we can.”