Coronavirus uptick delays full time return to classrooms for Penn-Trafford high school

Penn-Trafford School District will delay its vote on whether to resume fully in-person instruction for high school students after coronavirus cases were reported at two of the district’s elementary schools.

The school board had planned to discuss the matter Monday.

“With the recent cases reported at Level Green Elementary, Sunrise Elementary and the increase in cases within Westmoreland County, the district has decided to table this motion and discuss it at our Nov. 2 board meeting,” Superintendent Matthew Harris said in a statement.

The high school will continue using a hybrid model, in which students are split into two groups. Each group attends school in person two days a week and receives online instruction the rest of the time.

Only the high school is on the hybrid model. Elementary and middle school students are attending school in person four days a week. They have Fridays off, with teachers using the time to train and develop online lesson plans.

Students in all grades can choose to receive fully remote instruction.

Level Green Elementary School was closed Thursday through Monday after three staff members tested positive for coronavirus in a two-week span.

An employee at Sunrise Elementary tested positive last week, the district announced Friday. The school remained open.

District leaders hoped to have fully in-person instruction for high school students from the start of the year, but changed its plans and adopted the hybrid model the week before school began to comply with state coronavirus guidelines.

“We feel strongly that it is very important to provide our students with the best possible instruction in a face-to-face format, but the health and safety of our students and staff must be a priority,” Harris said.