North Hills School District announces full remote learning for 2 weeks

All students in the North Hills School District will learn remotely from Nov. 23 through Dec. 4, the district announced Friday.

That effectively means students will work online for six days — Nov. 23 and 24 and Dec. 1 through Dec. 4 — because there is no school Nov. 25 through Nov. 30 because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“This temporary closure is to both preserve the Thanksgiving holiday for our families and to give us the best shot at consistent in-person instruction in December,” the district said in a notice on its website. “It will also ensure our students and staff are safe when we return to in-person instruction on Dec. 7.”

The district said sports and activities will continue as scheduled during the temporary closure.

Because of a surge in covid-19 cases this week, Allegheny County has moved into the “substantial” level of community transmission as defined by the state Department of Education. The department recommends districts go to full remote learning when there is a substantial level of virus transmission in the community.

According to the district, Superintendent Patrick Mannarino briefed the school board Thursday evening, and the district is evaluating the situation based on recommendations of the Allegheny County Health Department.

“At this time, we plan to remain hybrid next week (Nov. 16), however, we will be closely watching district cases over the weekend and into next week,” the district said in its notice.

Under its hybrid schedule, North Hills students attend school two days in-person and three days virtually each week.

North Hills reported Wednesday that a teacher at Ross Elementary and a student at its middle school tested positive for the virus, raising the total for the week to 13.