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COVID SPIKES FORCE FOUR SCHOOLS TO GO ALL-VIRTUAL
Four schools in Delaware County are shifting from hybrid learning to fully virtual as a result of increasing COVID-19 positive tests results.
Two schools in the Ridley School District, Amosland Elementary and Ridley High School, will be fully virtual beginning Tuesday morning. A third Ridley school, Edgewood Elementary, is already virtual due to low instructor levels with staff quarantined.
“On the rolling 14 day those schools are impacted,” said Ridley Schools Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel. “You can’t just look week to week, you have to look every day, people drop off from the previous week based on when they tested positive.”
Two schools in the Garnet Valley School District moved from hybrid to all virtual learning Monday after a number of positive cases in the high school and at Garnet Valley Elementary School.
Superintendent Dr. Marc Bertrando notified parents Sunday that a sixth positive/probable COVID case was reported at Garnet Valley High School and a fourth positive/probable COVID case was reported at the elementary school.
Based on the current Pennsylvania Department of Education guidelines and in consultation with the Chester County Department of Health, Bertrando said they are now mandated to implement virtual learning for all students through Wednesday.
Garnet Valley follows the state Department of Health and Education recommendations which call for school buildings to close when there is community transmission and a certain number of cases in a specific school occur. Officials reported they are monitoring other schools in the district that could close in the coming days.
The guidelines note that a significant and/or widespread outbreak may require moving to a more remote-based instructional model quickly.
The recommendations are broken down by school size during a normal school year; small for schools less than 500 students, medium for 500-900 students and large for schools with more than 900 students.
The guidelines also look at the level of community transmission. Currently, Delaware County is in the substantial category. Schools could be closed between three and 14 days depending on their size and the number of cases of COVID-19 involving students and staff in a 14-day rolling period.
Students at Garnet Valley will return to a normal hybrid schedule on Thursday while the Ridley schools will remain virtual through the winter holidays for simplicity.
“Although our custodial team will do a deep clean and disinfection of classrooms with our electrostatic foggers and disinfectants on Monday, the building is closed to all students and employees until Thursday, Dec. 17th,” Bertrando said in a message posted to the District website. “The contact tracing for all of the current cases is complete; nevertheless, we will continue to work in conjunction with the Chester County Health Department to investigate any additional information that comes to our attention.”
Bertrando thanked parents and students for their patience and support during what he called a “frustrating, confusing, and scary time” and urged everyone to continue to practice the various health precautions, most notably masking and social distancing.
Wentzel said they have four mitigation strategies to prevent spread: a daily screening at home and if you are sick, stay home, wash hand thoroughly and frequently, keep six feet physically distanced and properly wear a mask at all times.
“We haven’t had a confirmation of a linked transmission in our building but now with the new thresholds if I get two cases in an elementary school, even if they are siblings, I have to shift that school to virtual,” Wentzel said. All Ridley elementary schools fall into the small group of under 500 students.
Many school districts in Delaware County have begun posting the numbers of COVID-19 positive cases in their schools on a routine basis on their websites.
On Monday, the Ridley School District reported there were 14 positive cases among students and staff during the past week in school district buildings, including five students and one staff person at the high school, two students at Amosland Elementary, two students and one staff person at Edgewood, one student at the Middle School, one staff person at Eddystone Elementary, and one person in the administration offices.
Wentzel said schools have been cleaned and noted that three students who were in a fully virtual setting also tested positive.
“Virtual does not prevent somebody from testing positive,” Wentzel said. “We know of a number of school districts in the county that have been 100 percent virtual
since the start of the school year and they have positive cases,” Wentzel said.
Ridley schools will again have a deep cleaning over the holiday and all schools will to hybrid with a fresh 14 day rolling window.
In Penn-Delco, there at 13 active cases with 132 in quarantine as of Monday. Interboro School District reported more than 85 cases through Dec. 4. Rose Tree Media School District reported six new cases last week, four at the high school and two at Indian Lane Elementary School. Radnor School District reported nine student cases and three staff cases last week. The Haverford School District reported one new case last week at the high school. Springfield School District reported seven cases last week - three at the high school, three at the middle school and one at Scenic Hills Elementary School.
In the Southeast Delco School District, administrators are considering a return to a hybrid learning model. Officials are asking parents and guardians to fill out an online survey.
In the county as a whole, the number of positive cases jumped over the week with
794 reported on Monday. There have been
22 more deaths in the past week. Delaware County is hosting drivethru COVID-19 testing sites this week, through Dec. 18, at two different locations in the county – the U.S. Army Reserve located at 500 W. 24th St., Upland, and Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital located at 1500 Lansdowne Ave. Darby.
Testing is open to anyone who lives or works in Delaware County, 12 years and older, who meet the following criteria: Have COVID-19 symptoms or were exposed to COVID-19 or are critical/essential workers. Testing is available for both insured and uninsured residents, there are no out of pocket costs or co-pays.
“We’d like everybody to wear the mask, that’s the biggest and most important thing everybody can do,” Wentzel said. “We started out with our board president who got hit hard early in March, so we know how serious this is. We take all the precautions very seriously.”