Pa. officials: Be patient waiting for unemployment
Gov. Tom Wolf has closed all schools in the state indefinitely and expanded the number of counties under a “stay at home” order Monday as figures of COVID-19 cases continue to mount.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed an additional 693 additional positive cases of COVID-19 Monday, bringing the statewide total to 4,087 in 59 counties, as well as 11 new deaths. The state’s death toll now stands at 49. Delaware County also reported an additional 45 cases Monday, bringing the total to 300 with five deaths.
“The continued rise in cases combined with our increasing deaths from
COVID-19 reflects the seriousness of this situation,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a release. “We need everyone to listen to the orders in place and to stay calm, stay home and stay safe. We know that these prolonged mitigation effects have been difficult for everyone, but it is essential that everyone follows these orders and does not go out unless they absolutely must.”
Wolf extended stay-at-home orders to include Carbon, Cumberland, Dauphin and Schuylkill counties Monday, bringing the state total to 26 counties. The order also includes: Allegheny, Beaver, Berks, Bucks, Butler, Centre, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Pike, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland and York counties.
All stay-at-home orders have been extended through April 30 and all Pennsylvania schools will remain closed “until further notice,” according to new orders issued Monday.
“In light of the fact that the governor has extended the COVID-19 school closures indefinitely, Penn Delco will simply extend its virtual learning schedule until schools are cleared to reopen,” said Superintendent George Steinhoff in an emailed statement. “The digital resources and online connections that our staff have been making with students are designed to keep students engaged with their learning goals while recognizing that many parents are also having to work from home. Flexibility, support, and understanding are words that frame our approach to online learning during this period.”
Steinhoff added that parents have so far been “exceptionally understanding” of the challenges posed by the crisis, including district employees who are also home with young children of their own.
“That type of understanding, patience, and cooperation that I’ve heard from parents is appreciated and school districts are trying to respond in kind with support to the best degree that we can provide,” he said.
Ridley School District Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel said her district is likewise continuing its flexible instructional plan, which includes online coursework that can be tweaked and tailored to meet the needs of the student population.
“We’re able to actually stay with our calendar and continue to run our educational program,” said Wentzel. “It will run a little longer now.”
She said the district has had a “oneon-one” instructional initiative for about 10 years that provides a platform for online instruction, and is working with Comcast and other internet providers to maintain connection services to families that do not have Wi-Fi.
Parental response has been “a mixed bag,” she said. There have been a lot of positive responses to the online instructional effort, but there have been some bandwidth issues with parents working from home. In those instances, Wentzel said, instruction takes a backseat to the parents’ ability to provide for the household.
Luckily, she said, schoolwork can often be done asynchronously and teachers are able to provide a good deal of flexibility in getting assignments completed.
“What we’re trying to do is truly personalize the learning,” said Wentzel. “There are a lot of different strategies we see our teachers using. Some teachers are using Google Hangout meets and they may have a small collection of small groups of students on. If a teacher wants to present information to a group they can record themselves on a video and then load the video, and then the student can stop and start the
video at their own pace for their own needs.”
Wentzel’s favorite story was a student who recorded herself using a metal mixing bowl to replace a standup cymbal while rehearsing music at home.
“We’ve had a lot of people – kids, parents and teachers – be very creative in how best to approach this, and really it’s about personalization,” she said. “It’s about what’s best for kids and families.”