With rise in COVID-19 cases, State College schools will stay all-remote until January
With COVID-19 cases rising in the district, State College Area School District has extended its closure and will operate remotely through the new year.
Superintendent Bob O’Donnell told families Wednesday that students will attend classes virtually until Jan. 11.
“This was a difficult decision for us because we truly believe in-person learning is best for our students,” O’Donnell wrote. “However, during the last couple of weeks, the spread of COVID-19 in our community has continued to worsen, and the epidemiologists on our team expect conditions to further decline.”
In the last 10 days, the district has reported 49 new cases, a ten-fold increase in daily case numbers compared to the first 92 days of the school year.
Prior to Thanksgiving, the district announced a two-week closure due to staffing shortages and rising case numbers. Though the district discouraged holiday travel, the closure aimed to mitigate community spread after the holiday.
“Now, because of the significant rise in local cases, our reasons for remaining closed have shifted to include community spread and concerns about hospital capacity,” he wrote. “The virus is now infecting our students, employees and families at its highest rate so far this year.”
As of Wednesday, 40 regularly-scheduled employees, eight as-needed staff members, 45 in-person students and four remote students have contracted the virus since SCASD reopened in August.
“District testing reveals an increase as well. Through the end of November, our random employee testing program yielded one positive out of 304 tests,” O’Donnell wrote. “But this past week, 380 new employee tests led to 7 positive cases, a positivity rate of about 2 percent. This rate for asymptomatic testing was concerning to our health and safety team.”
Testing results from local medical providers — Mount Nittany Health, Penn State Health and Geisinger Health — also indicate a needed closure for the district, O’Donnell said.
“Since school started in August, we have monitored their testing results. At present, their 7-day percent positivity average stands at 27%, as compared to 6% during a previous high point in October,” he wrote.
Learning will remain asynchronous on Dec. 16 and Dec. 23, and instructional support centers will remain open through Dec. 23. Families will be notified of plans for January.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 10:53 AM.
