Leechburg Area to hold classes online for next 2 Wednesdays

Leechburg Area School District students will receive instruction remotely for the next two Wednesdays so custodians can thoroughly clean the district’s buildings on those days.

The district has been holding classes in person all five days each week.

The move, approved by the school board on Wednesday, was prompted by rising covid-19 cases in Armstrong and Westmoreland counties. Westmoreland County’s covid-19 risk level has been deemed “substantial” by the state for the past two weeks, while Armstrong County remains at a “moderate” risk level, but barely.

In an email to parents Thursday, Superintendent Tiffany Nix said Pennsylvania Department of Health data show that Armstrong County has a covid-19 incidence rate of 99.6 cases per 100,000 residents, while Westmoreland’s rate is 124.1 cases per 100,000 residents. A rate of higher than 100 is considered a substantial risk level.

The state Department of Education and Department of Health recommend switching to remote learning when the county it’s in reaches the substantial risk level.

“If we would have more than four positive cases of covid-19, the DOH could recommend that we close our schools to stop the spread,” Nix wrote.

Nix said Leechburg has reported two positive cases in two days, but the school board and Nix agreed that the district did not need to revert back to fully remote learning at this time.

“Wednesdays will be used for our custodial staff to scrub and sanitize our buildings from top to bottom,” wrote Nix. “This is the main reason for going to a virtual model on Wednesdays while our counties are in substantial or close to it.

“Our goal is to keep the virus out,” Nix said. “Our custodial crew has been working tirelessly to keep our buildings clean and follow covid-19 mitigation strategies and protocol.”

Nix said there have been no new cases in district buildings after one staffer in the high school tested positive for coronavirus last week. The district did not identify the infected staff member and the district has remained open.

Nix acknowledged the new change may not be convenient for families.

“I know that you may not be happy with this decision, but please know that it is intended to keep all of you safe,” Nix said in the email. “The last thing we want is to have an outbreak, have to quarantine dozens of people, and then it spread to your families.”

The school board will meet Nov. 11 to discuss the latest covid-19 data and decide whether to continue the four-day, in-person model, switch back to five days a week of in-person instruction or do something different.

Nix said students and staffers who have covid-19 symptoms or have been in close contact with any positive case should stay home and contact the school nurse immediately at 724-845-7701.

“We will continue to monitor and adapt as we need to,” Nix said. “We want to keep our numbers low.”

Nix said students on Wednesdays will learn from home using Chromebooks and Google Classroom. Materials will be sent home with students Tuesday. Parents will not need to come to campus to pick up anything.