Fox Chapel Area confirms 4 covid-19 cases at high school

On the first day of school for Fox Chapel Area School District, leaders have confirmed four cases of covid-19 among high school students or staff.

The covid-19 dashboard on the district website lists an updated number of cases by building each month. Bonnie Berzonski, district coordinator of communications, said the district does not identify whether cases are students or staff.

It is also unclear if any of the infected people were in the school on opening day or in the days leading up to it.

Superintendent Mary Catherine Reljac emailed parents Aug. 23 — the day before the first day of classes — alerting them of two confirmed cases of covid-19 and saying that appropriate steps were taken.

“The district followed its health and safety plan and contacted the Allegheny County Health Department to follow its guidance,” she wrote.

Based on contact tracing, no one was deemed to be a close contact, Reljac’s letter said.

A close contact is someone who comes within three to six feet of the infected person for at least 15 minutes starting two days before the onset of illness.

There were no close contacts for the two additional confirmed cases either, Berzonski said.

Quarantine for infected staff or students can end 10 days after exposure if no symptoms develop with daily monitoring, according to the district’s health and safety plan.

Quarantine can end after seven days if the person does not develop symptoms and tests negative five days after exposure.

The school board earlier this month approved a health and safety plan with a mandate that all students, staff and teachers wear masks indoors. It was a shift from an original proposal that would have required only elementary-aged students to wear masks.

Reljac said the move was intended to minimize quarantines and keep students in the classrooms.

Students and staff will be able to remove their masks while eating or socially distanced.

The district is open for five-day-per-week, in-person instruction but offers an online option as well.

On Aug. 16, Allegheny County moved into the high level of covid-19 transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC defines a high covid-19 transmission level as more than 100 cases per 100,000 people or a 10% positivity rate in a particular county over seven days.