New Kensington-Arnold going to all remote instruction for 1 week

New Kensington-Arnold School District will change from in-person to remote instruction for all students the week of Nov. 2, the school board decided Tuesday.

The state Department of Education has recommended that Westmoreland County districts move to fully remote instruction to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

On Tuesday, the county reported the most new covid-19 deaths since May, according to the state Department of Health. The county had 72 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total case count to 4,169 with 88 deaths.

Classes are not in session on Nov. 3 because of Election Day.

“While many school districts have decided to remain in their current instructional model, the (district) administration team felt that it was prudent that we use the shortened week and the end of the first quarter to not only comply with the most recent (state) recommendation for supporting the health and safety of our local community, but also take advantage of an opportunity to implement a fully remote model in the event that county(wide) or statewide increases in covid-19 cases cause an abrupt and lengthy school closure,” acting Superintendent Jon Banko said in a notice.

The district will return to face-to-face instruction the week of Nov. 9 “if there is no significant change in the countywide or local infection rates,” Banko said.

Banko said the district and teachers will provide more information to families, including expectations for participation.

Over the past two weeks, the 15601 ZIP code, which covers the Greensburg Salem, Hempfield and Greater Latrobe school districts, saw 329 new covid cases. In that same time, the 15068 ZIP code, which covers the New Kensington-Arnold and Burrell school districts, saw 38 new covid cases, according to state data.

New Kensington-Arnold started the school year giving parents the choice of either fully in-school or fully online instruction.

In late September, the district opted to continue with five-day-a-week, face-to-face instruction after giving parents whose children were attending school online the option to return to schools beginning Oct. 5. As of Oct. 5, the amount of students in buildings increased from 53% to 64%.

Earlier this month, Banko acknowledged that students in third-grade social studies/science classes at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in Arnold were being seated closer than the recommended 6-foot distance because of the number of students in the class.