Aug 14, 2021 6 min read

School districts in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties are watching the surge of infections of the delta variant in Southwestern Pennsylvania, as students and staff are preparing to return to classrooms.

“This year is going to be more difficult than last year,” said Dr. Scott Martin, superintendent of Bentworth School District. “I think every superintendent will tell you their top priority is to keep kids safe. I want to do everything possible to keep our kids safe.”

School districts are required to submit COVID-19 safety plans, which include face mask policies, to the state Department of Education.

Currently, mask requirements aren’t a part of districts’ back-to-school plans, but superintendents said districts could change their COVID-19 safety guidelines and protocols to include a mask mandate if necessary.

Students are required to wear face masks during their bus ride to and from school.

Some school districts also are offering various types of remote learning.

Dr. Kevin Monaghan, superintendent at Central Greene School District, said the district “will be highly recommending masks, but not requiring masks.”

Parents are hotly divided on whether or not children should wear face masks.

Gov. Tom Wolf said he will not impose a mask mandate in schools, but encouraged people to follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines. The CDC now recommends anyone over the age of 2 to wear face masks in public indoor places where the spread of COVID-19 is substantial or high, even if they’re vaccinated.

Washington, Greene and Fayette counties all have a substantial rate of virus spread.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends in-person learning and, like the CDC, encourages anyone older than 2 to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

The American Federation of Teachers also recommends following CDC guidelines.

UPMC said it has seen a slight increase in the number of patients at UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, and recommends families vaccinate themselves and their children who are eligible as soon as possible.

Dr. Graham Snyder, UPMC’s medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology, said during a Tuesday press conference that the delta variant is more contagious than other variants, and that vaccines, masking and social distancing are the best ways to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

“And the decisions that those who are leading our schools’ policies, I want them to think about masking and distancing together as possibilities for keeping people safe,” said Snyder.

Dr. Ned Ketyer, a pediatrician at Allegheny Health Network, urges parents to have their children wear masks and get vaccinated if they are eligible.

“It’s important that parents urge school districts to listen to pediatricians and health professionals who are calling for universal masking in school,” said Ketyer, noting children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. “With the surge of coronavirus, it’s common sense, I think, that everybody in school wears a mask. It’s a statement of fact, of evidence-based science. There’s nothing political about what I’m saying. It’s about public health, virology, and the way viruses spread. We can put this pandemic behind us if we listen to public health experts and scientists.”

Despite initial concern about the risk of outbreaks going into last school year, local school districts largely avoided significant coronavirus spread in schools.

Ketyer isn’t so sure that will be the case this year if procedures like masking and social distancing aren’t in place.

According to the AAP, cases of COVID-19 in children are rising.

Children accounted for about 15% of all newly reported COVID-19 cases across the country for the week ending Aug. 5.

Nearly 94,000 child cases of COVID-19 were recorded during that period, a 31% increase over the prior week.

It’s not clear whether the delta variant is making kids sicker than previous strains, but numbers are showing that severe illness, hospitalization and death are rare among children who get COVID.

Last year, Bentworth School District held in-person classes for 180 days, with only two students in elementary school contracting COVID-19.

Martin doesn’t know if that will happen this year.

“I think it’s going to be a very tricky year as far as maneuvering COVID and delta. This year is going to be more difficult than last year,” said Martin. “We have to be ready to pivot quickly.”

School districts said they plan to continue cleaning and sanitizing protocols they implemented last year during the pandemic.

In a letter to parents, Dr. Donald McFann, superintendent at Bethlehem-Center School District, wrote the school district “will continue to operate with many of the safety enhancements that were implemented during the 2020-21 school year,” including enhanced cleaning and sanitizing, and hand sanitizers in each classroom.

Beth-Center students will attend in-person classes five days a week, and face masks are highly recommended, but optional.

McFann continued that the school district “will operate in accordance with prevailing COVID mitigation orders. Rest assured that the Beth-Center School District will remain aware of all updates to the safety recommendations provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and will be prepared to quickly respond to any changes in mandates by the government to ensure the health and safety of the students in our care.”

Dr. Jesse T. Wallace, superintendent at Laurel Highlands School District, said in an email that the district will continue mitigation efforts.

Those include virus-destroying ionizers in all buildings, HVAC ultraviolet light virus/bacteria filtration systems, upgraded FDA-approved cleaning products, ventilation and air circulation upgrades, and adjusted custodial cleaning schedules to enable constant cleaning during school hours.

“We are attempting to start and finish the 2021-22 school year with face-to-face instruction five days per week,” Wallace said. “We know learning loss is going to be a major factor of consideration and efforts to bridge that gap will be paramount, along with the social and emotional issues students have with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are poised to meet all their needs on a daily basis.”

At Peters Township School District, communications coordinator Shelly Belcher said the focus is on helping students and staff stay healthy.

“We are strongly recommending masks, and a lot of it is stressing the other common-sense things: stay at home when you’re sick, wash your hands, all of those things that help us all stay healthy,” said Belcher. “We’re hopeful that we’ll have a great school year.”