Hempfield Area adds additional covid cases, board members discuss next steps

Hempfield Area School District is seeing a rise in reported coronavirus cases, with six more students and two staff members testing positive for the virus, school officials said.

In a letter posted to the district website Monday, Superintendent Tammy Wolicki said four of the students attend the high school, one attends Wendover Middle School and one attends West Hempfield Elementary School. She did not specify where the two staff members work.

The district has seen a number of reported cases over the last week, bringing the total number of cases from Oct. 12 through Monday to 17 students and four staffers, Wolicki said. Of those cases, 11 are at the high school and three are at Wendover. Harrold Middle School, West Hempfield middle and West Hempfield elementary each have one case.

An additional 142 students and 16 employees are quarantining after being identified as close contacts related to school cases, Wolicki said.

“To me, 17 is high for students, four is high for staff,” Wolicki said during a board meeting this week. “The 142 for the students being quarantined, and especially those 16 staff members, are placing a huge burden on our system. We have elementary principals … that are teaching classrooms. We just do not have the substitutes, we do not have the coverage.”

As cases continue to rise across Westmoreland County, Wolicki expressed concerns that buildings would have to shutter due to a lack of staff and supervision. But as cases seemingly continue to rise, recommendations to temporarily close schools could come from the state education and health departments.

The department of education relies on the number of coronavirus cases at schools and also community spread to determine if a school should close. Those numbers correlate through a tiered system — low, moderate and substantial — to determine what measures should be taken to help curb the spread of the virus.

According to Wolicki, schools in the county were notified they reached the substantial level. At that point, the education department recommends switching to remote learning.

Wolicki noted that, right now, the district is not implementing any changes, citing guidance from the department that suggests not making immediate changes for two weeks to see if there are any changes in the number of cases across the county.

If the state health department would recommend changes, Wolicki said, “It would be my personal recommendation that we would follow the Department of Health recommendations in order to reduce the spread, to reduce the spread among our staff and among our students.”

While a decision was not made by board members on the issue, several expressed concerns over the well-being of students and struggles parents may be facing with online learning.

“I personally think we’ve gotten to a point where school being closed is becoming more of a detriment to the kids than the actual virus,” said board member Mike Alfery.

Both Alfery and board President Tony Bompiani noted that if it came to a vote, they would vote to reopen the district five days a week. Students are currently attending class through a hybrid model, meaning they alternate between in-person and online learning.

The problem, board member Paul Ward said, is the current surge of cases across the county.

“I’m as ready as I think a lot of the board as soon as it is reasonably possible (to reopen),” he said. “I think it’s difficult to talk about it right now during a time where there’s this surge of cases.”

Other board members expressed concerns over a potential lack of staff. Member Vince DeAugustine said he was previously on board with having students attend school five days. As cases rise, however, his priority is on protecting staff members.

“We sit here and we battle with all these decisions and we depend on the administration to make the right decision and I think right now, with the cases in the county and us going substantial, I think it’s a tough decision to make to open five days a week,” he said.

Board member Jeanne Smith agreed, adding, “We all want to go back full time, we want the kids to be in school. We know that is the best thing for them and I will certainly support going back full time as soon as we are in a safe level, but right now we are in substantial (state designation.)”

To help mitigate the spread of the virus, Wolicki reminded staff and students to adhere to social distancing measures, washing hands and wearing face masks. If someone tests positive for the virus, they should share information with school nurses and inform anybody who may be a close contact.

“We, too, want school to open,” Wolicki said. “I feel, right now, school is open, even for the high school. Our teachers are doing an excellent job providing education to students at home. School’s open, they’re just not physically at school. They’re at where I believe it’s safest for them to be at this time.”