Pennsylvania schools to remain closed for remainder of academic year, Gov. Tom Wolf announces
Due to COVID-19, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday that all Pennsylvania K-12 schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year, but learning will continue.
“We must continue our efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus during this national crisis,” Wolf said in a news release. “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.”
The governor and state Department of Education encourage schools to provide continuity of education for all students in the “most appropriate and accessible ways possible.” To assist administrators’ design remote learning plans, the department of education has secured resources and outlined guidelines for online and offline lessons.
“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,” state Secretary of Education Pedro 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.”
Continuity of education plans, which some Centre County school districts were already set to launch before Thursday’s announcement, may include planned instruction — formal teaching — or enrichment and review, informal activities that serve as an extension of prior education.
Students at State College Area School District and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Boalsburg have been learning online for weeks, following Wolf’s initial order in March for schools to close temporarily.
The schools distributed technology and textbooks to families to ensure kids could learn at home.
The Bellefonte Area School District developed a preliminary plan focused on “enrichment and review” that aims to accommodate the needs of district employees, students and families and will graduate seniors on time.
The district is evaluating whether and how to distribute Chromebooks to students, but Superintendent Michelle Saylor said this week that technology is not required for the program. In the district survey, 450 parents requested a laptop, Saylor said.
Scheduled to launch next week, the Bald Eagle Area School District learning plan is accessible to all students — even the 20-25% who responded in a phone survey that they are without reliable internet access.
The plan will cover the fourth and final marking period of the school year, and BEA has provided Chromebooks to students without internet access. The laptops are configured to connect to the exterior WiFi near the main entrance of BEA middle and high schools and Howard, Mountaintop and Port Matilda Elementary schools, where students can download lessons and assignments.
Philipsburg-Osceola and Penns Valley Area school districts have also taken steps to distribute technology and textbooks for students to continue their education at home.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 11:15 AM.
