Belle Vernon to continue with remote learning into January

Students in the Belle Vernon Area School District will continue with remote learning after the holidays as covid-19 cases continue to rise across the region.

Remote instruction will continue until Jan. 19, said Superintendent Michele Dowell, who cited a 47% positivity rate in the school district community as a major factor in why the decision was made. A month ago, that rate was below 10%, she said, meaning that almost one out of every two people now being tested in the community is positive.

The high rate of spread also means a number of staff members are in quarantine after being identified as close contacts. According to Dowell, there are employees from every department who are positive or who have been in contact with someone who is. That means school buildings could not be properly staffed.

“We know that this puts a burden on parents due to remote instruction being difficult for some students as well as dealing with daycare,” Dowell said. “We are trying our best to get students back into the buildings and we will continually assess the situation.”

If cases begin to decrease following the holiday break, and district leaders feel students can be brought back safely with enough staff, adjustments will be made.

Students have been attending classes remotely since Thanksgiving break ended.

Data released by the state Department of Health Thursday shows that Westmoreland County added 505 new coronavirus cases, breaking its daily record by 68 cases. That brings the county’s total the 12,369 cases.

There were also eight new covid-related deaths reported, bumping the county’s total to 273 since March.

Dowell reminded parents and guardians to notify the school principal or nurse if a child has to quarantine or tests positive for covid.

“Please do everything that you can to help stop the spread of this disease so that we can get our students back into school,” she said.