North Hills School District teacher, student test positive for covid-19

North Hills School District announced Saturday that a third-grade teacher at Highcliff Elementary School and a student at North Hills High School tested positive for covid-19.

The teacher was in the school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, before symptoms appeared Wednesday evening. She was not in the building on Thursday or Friday, officials said in a letter to school district families.

The teacher was tested for covid-19 on Thursday and received positive results Saturday.

Highcliff Elementary School Principal Kristy Bilderback will notify families whose students were in her classroom Tuesday or Wednesday and anyone else who was in close contact with her while in the school this week. The Allegheny County Health Department will also contact anyone else who is identified as a close contact.

The school district also reported a high school student who has a presumed positive case of covid-19. That student was in the high school Thursday.

The Allegheny County Health Department will handle contact tracing with that student’s close contacts. Officials will directly notify anyone who was within close contact with that student without a mask on and for more than 15 minutes.

Students were in all of the district’s school buildings from Tuesday through Friday, at 25% capacity. All aspects of the district’s health and safety plan were followed, according to school officials.

North Hills School District is following recommendations from the Allegheny County Health Department.

The teacher who tested positive for covid-19 will isolate for 10 days, per the Allegheny County Health Department’s guidance.

Students will begin fully virtual instruction Monday, as planned. The district will use the virtual model until at least Oct., at which point they will consider moving to a hybrid model, depending on covid-19 conditions.