Sunnyside public school closes after 2nd staffer tests positive for covid

Pittsburgh Public School’s Sunnyside campus in the city’s Stanton Heights neighborhood will close for the next two weeks after a second staffer tested positive for covid-19, officials said Wednesday.

The employee at the Stanton Avenue school — which enrolls pre-schoolers through eighth-graders — was last at the Sunnyside building on Friday and was wearing protective gear, according to officials with Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Staff as well as students are prohibited from entering the campus until Thursday, Dec. 3, according to district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh.

The school’s “grab and go” food distribution will not be offered during the closure. Students and their families instead can get the breakfast and lunch options at Pittsburgh Obama Academy at 515 N. Highland Ave.

School closures mount across Western Pa.

In Westmoreland County, Norwin School District reported Wednesday having trouble finding substitute teachers and aides to fill in for employees in quarantine, with another three staff members and three students testing positive for covid-19 as of this week.

Superintendent Jeff Taylor says that about 530 students and staff have spent 14 days or 24 days in quarantine or isolation. Taylor said that Norwin is close to having to switch to all-virtual learning — like many schools are doing across Southwestern Pennsylvania as covid-19 cases climb across the region.

Among covid-related school updates in recent days:

• All Greensburg Salem School District schools are shutting their doors and moving to virtual classes from Thursday until the end of the month, the district announced Wednesday. Three district students and two staff members tested positive this week, and several more are quarantining or awaiting test results.

• Burrell School District will move to fully virtual learning for two weeks after Thanksgiving, and again for two weeks after Christmas, the school board decided .

• The Chartiers Valley School District reported four new positive covid-19 cases this week and will temporarily switch to full-remote learning until early December. Students will return a blend of online and in-person instruction on Monday, Dec. 7. The district cited at least two positive cases linked to its elementary school and two at its high school.

• On Sunday, Highlands School District announced that its middle school will move to full remote learning beginning Monday and lasting through the Thanksgiving break because of cases of covid-19 among students and staff. All after-school activities have been canceled.

• Plum School District told students who attended a parent-run homecoming dance held last Saturday at Five Pines Barn in Irwin to quarantine for two weeks after learning a student who attended the event had the virus. Attendees have been asked not return to school until December.