Hempfield elementary school closed Tuesday due to covid-19

An elementary school in the Hempfield Area School District will be temporarily closed early next week after covid-19 cases were reported in the building.

Fort Allen Elementary School will close Tuesday, Jan. 19, after three active cases were reported in the building, according to a letter from Superintendent Tammy Wolicki.

Students, who are off Monday, will attend classes remotely Tuesday.

The decision to close the school came after two other district buildings were closed this week due to covid-19 cases. Wendover Middle School was closed Monday and West Hempfield Middle School was closed Friday in order to give school leaders time to conduct contact tracing. That identifies people who need to quarantine.

Fort Allen students will return to in-person classes Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Free breakfast and lunch will be available for curbside pickup Tuesday at the Cyber Center, located at 3740 Route 136, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Several covid-19 cases have been reported across the district since students returned to classrooms earlier this month. Elementary students are currently attending class in person each day while secondary students are following a hybrid model — a mix of in-person and online classes.

As of Friday, there were 15 positive covid-19 cases across the district. Of that, 11 are students and four are staffers, according to a tracker on the district’s website.

In addition to the Fort Allen cases, two were reported at Harrold Middle School, seven at Hempfield Area High School and one case each at Maxwell Elementary, Stanwood Elementary and West Hempfield Elementary.

Nineteen staffers are also quarantining after being identified as close contacts. Of those, four are at Fort Allen, two at Harrold, two at the high school, one at Stanwood, two at Wendover, two at West Point Elementary School and three at both West Hempfield elementary and middle schools.

Since Jan. 1, the district has seen a total of 26 positive cases, 16 students and 10 staffers.

Positive test results should be reported to the school nurse, principal or Lisa Maloney, supervisor of pupil services at the district.