Norwin closes high school on Monday because of covid cases

Norwin High School will be closed Monday because of an increase in covid-19 cases, including a possible close contact by players on a sports team to a person with the virus, the school district said Friday.

Three new student covid-19 cases were reported Friday, as well as one in a member of the school staff, the school district wrote in an email.

The district did not specify which team was involved.

The state health department will perform contact tracing for the high school students over the weekend and Monday, a Norwin spokesman said. Norwin officials are working with the health department on the scope of contact tracing that will be needed.

The district has had about 32 students and staff infected with the virus since the school year began Aug. 31. The number of covid-19 cases in the North Huntingdon-Irwin areas served by the school district has increased during the past month.

With the high school closing Monday, all students will receive instruction in an asynchronous manner through Google Classroom.

All sports and activities scheduled for the high school Monday are canceled.

Over the weekend and Monday, the high school building will be sanitized in preparation for students and staff to return Tuesday. The school district said it will confirm those return-to-school plans by 3 p.m. Monday.

The announcement the school will be closed Monday comes as Superintendent Jeff Taylor said he would announce Monday whether the school district will return to full in-school instruction Nov. 18. Norwin is operating in a hybrid manner of instruction that gives students the opportunity for two days of in-class instruction and three days of virtual learning.

The school district last month had announced plans to bring students back to the school buildings five days a week beginning Nov. 4, but those plans were delayed because of rising covid-19 cases.