Outbreaks, staffing shortages: How are Centre County schools faring with COVID-19?
It’s been three months since Centre County schools reopened and put their health and safety plans to the test. Since then, all local school districts have experienced some COVID-related closure, with concerns rising about upcoming holidays and breaks.
Despite record-setting daily increases in cases, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said there are no plans to implement a second statewide shutdown like the one that closed schools this spring. But during a press conference Tuesday, she said the state will be watching schools and COVID-19 data “really closely.”
“We have very specific guidance for K-12 schools in terms of whether they should be having classes in the classroom, whether they should have maybe a hybrid model or if they should be in virtual mode,” she said.
State guidelines recommend that schools in counties with a “substantial” amount of community transmission — 10% or higher COVID-19 positivity rates — should consider teaching under a fully remote educational model. Centre County’s most recent weekly positivity rate is 6.4%.
In order to continue in-person instruction, Pennsylvania schools must adhere to strict health guidelines and work to prevent in-school transmission. Although overall cases in Centre County K-12 districts have been lower than originally anticipated, recent increases and staff shortages have led to three out of five area school districts shifting temporarily to remote learning.
State College
After Thanksgiving break, the State College Area School District will enter its second in-person closure of the school year. The district closed for almost a month at the start of the school year due to a rise in community case numbers, after which the board of directors voted to ease closing indicators outlined in the health and safety plan because the majority of cases were connected to Penn State students’ return to University Park.
Since the first day of school on Aug. 26, SCASD has reported 43 COVID-19 cases among district staff and students.
Of the district’s positive cases, 24 are students (22 in-person students and two remote or Virtual Academy students) and 18 are employees (13 regularly scheduled employees and six as-needed employees including substitutes), according to the SCASD coronavirus dashboard.
During a health and safety update Monday, Superintendent Bob O’Donnell said the majority of staff and students who tested positive for the virus have already been in quarantine or were not in school for at least two days before they developed symptoms.
But O’Donnell also noted challenges to keeping schools open due to staff shortages caused by quarantine or isolation requirements, with 34 staff members quarantined as of Monday.
On Thursday, he told families that issue had reached “a tipping point” and announced that after Thanksgiving break, SCASD schools will remain closed for two additional weeks. All students will shift to remote learning through Dec. 14.
“I realize this decision will cause hardships for many of our families,” O’Donnell wrote. “For nine months now, this virus has taken its toll on our community, and I can only hope that we will be back in schools as soon as possible.”
And with the holidays approaching, administrators said it’s important families practice safe behavior.
“The Thanksgiving holiday coming up makes us all nervous,” Dr. Joy Drass, a pediatrician and district safety team member, said at Monday’s school board meeting. “I know everyone is tired; everyone really has COVID-19 fatigue, and I get it. We all live it, and we miss our families.”
Drass echoed nationwide recommendations from health experts and said bringing families from different households together is “worrisome” for transmission.
“We really want people to be cautious around the holidays, cautious about travel,” she said. “Consider quarantining if you do travel. Nationwide, we’re seeing numbers go up ... now is when we have to be more cautious than ever.”
The board of directors also approved changes to the academic calendar, including eliminating spring break and scheduling periodic breaks throughout the year to discourage travel.
Bellefonte
After three COVID-19 cases were reported in the district last month, Bellefonte closed its middle and high school for one day to conduct cleaning.
Since reopening, Bellefonte has reported additional cases, but interim Superintendent Tammie Burnaford said there has been no evidence of transmission within schools.
In a community update issued Friday, Burnaford said the district has three known, active cases within its middle and high schools, but faces the same shortage of substitute teachers and staff members experienced by other area school districts.
“These shortages are due to our employees needing to quarantine because they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive outside our schools,” Burnaford wrote. “And, we have staff members who live in other districts and have no child care if their own children’s schools are closed.”
The district has no plans to close schools, but Burnaford told families that could change “at a moment’s notice” if there’s a significant rise in cases or severe staff shortages.
The district has not announced guidance or discouraged families from traveling during the holidays. At the most recent board meeting, Burnaford said the health and safety plan will be updated to reflect new state guidance, which requires anyone who travels out of state to get tested 72 hours prior to returning or quarantine for 14 days.
Penns Valley
The Penns Valley Area School District has tracked more than 300 students for the coronavirus, either because they tested positive or were a close contact of someone who contracted the virus.
“We continue to be challenged by the presence of COVID-19 cases in our valley,” Superintendent Brian Griffith said in a districtwide letter sent Nov. 12.
Last week, that challenge continued, with the district opting to move to remote learning from Nov. 19-Dec. 1 as COVID-19 cases within schools increase.
Griffith notified families of the districtwide closure in an email sent Wednesday afternoon, following a new COVID-19 case reported in the district. The individual who tested positive — along with two presumed positive cases — exposed over 28 students and four staff members in the high, intermediate and elementary school buildings.
Seventy-seven students and eight staff members are under quarantine within the district, he wrote.
“Based on the current numbers of students and staff quarantined due to COVID, the district is, unfortunately, unable to operate in an in-person environment,” Griffith told families.
From the first day of school through Nov. 12, Penns Valley has tracked 319 students for the coronavirus. Of those students, 131 students were identified as close contacts and were asked to quarantine at home and be tested. The remaining 188 students, Griffith said, were sent home and demonstrated one or more COVID-19 symptoms.
Despite mitigation efforts outlined in the school health and safety plan, Griffith said cases are still increasing among families.
“In the first many weeks of the school year, we were fortunate we did not have any documented cases of COVID positive students,” Griffith wrote Wednesday. “In the last few weeks, the number of cases has risen across our own ZIP codes, Centre County and the commonwealth. We have seen the spread within our families and now we have seen cases spread to our students in school.”
Griffith has also voiced concerns about the upcoming holiday, encouraging safe decision-making in the Nov. 12 letter to families.
“In these difficult times, we understand that now, more than ever before, we need to connect with the ones we love over something other than a Zoom screen,” Griffith said. “At the same time, the risk for further spread of the coronavirus becomes even greater. These are difficult and personal decisions that may impact others.”
Bald Eagle
Since reopening, the Bald Eagle Area School District has reported at least a dozen COVID-19 cases among district staff and students, according to district communications.
As of Friday, about 150 students are in quarantine due to exposure at the middle school, high school and Wingate Elementary buildings. That led to the closure of all district buildings through Dec. 1, an announcement Superintendent Scott Graham made days after announcing Wingate’s second temporary closure of the year.
On Tuesday, Graham told families in an email that a Wingate employee resulted in more than 50 students having to quarantine, along with three teachers and four paraeducators.
A new case was announced in the high school Friday and Graham said there is a presumed positive case among one of the bus drivers, resulting in about 100 middle and high school students in quarantine.
“Hopefully, this is a short-term closure and we will be back to in-person learning on Dec. 1,” Graham wrote.
The district made upgrades to its ventilation system earlier this month to help mitigate community spread before winter, and has also discouraged out of state travel over the holidays.
“We ask staff and parents to monitor their health, and if they are ill or have symptoms related to COVID-19, to stay home and contact their doctor,” Graham said. “I have been very pleased this year on how proactive both parents and staff have been in keeping the district informed of symptoms, testing and results of testing.”
The board of directors voted to eliminate midterms and final exams for middle and high school students for the 2020-21 school year. Instead, each nine weeks will be worth 25% of the student’s grade for the year.
To alleviate stress and give teachers more time to prepare lessons and complete grading, the board also made alterations to BEA’s calendar. Teachers now have up to 20 hours of planning time through scheduled two-hour delays, which will begin in December.
Tentatively, there will be one delay in December, two per month from January-April and one in May.
Philipsburg-Osceola
The Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District closed its senior high school after three COVID-19 cases were reported among staff and students.
The building reopened Monday, and no additional cases have been reported in the high school. But last week, Superintendent Gregg Paladina announced two new cases reported in the district’s elementary schools.
“As cases continue to rise within our community, it is important to remain diligent and continue to do our part to keep our students safe and healthy,” he told district families.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
