Hempfield to continue with hybrid model of learning next week

The Hempfield Area School Board reaffirmed students will return to in-person classes every other day starting next week after they completed a week of remote learning after the Thanksgiving break.

Students will return to in-person classes through the hybrid model Monday after district leaders said they returned a formal notice to the state affirming they are complying with covid-19 safety measures to ensure students and staff are safe while in school buildings.

Districts in several counties, including Westmoreland, were given the option last week to switch to full remote learning or state they are following safety measures after cases continued to spike across the region.

The directive was announced for all public schools in counties that have experienced a “substantial” level of transmission, or the benchmark determined by state health officials that is reached when there are at least 100 covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in a county during a one-week period.

Cases in Westmoreland County have continued to rise over the past month. On Monday, 183 additional cases were added by the state Department of Health, bringing the county’s total to 9,643 cases.

An additional 15 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported, bring the county’s total to 219.

“We still feel our children are safer here than they are at home,” board President Tony Bompiani said. “I’m not putting down home life, I’m just saying the contacts are different, and the way we take care of things here is different. And they’re supervised, and it’s safe for them.”

The district has stuck with a hybrid model of learning, or a mix of in-person and online classes, for middle and high school students since school started in the fall. Elementary students are attending in-person classes every day. Board members voted to continue with that model in October as cases in the county started to rise.

Prior to the break, 35 cases were reported in the district for the period between Nov. 11-25, according to a covid-19 tracker on the district’s website.

“While I do support getting back to school as soon as we can, we also have to be pretty careful,” said School Director Vince DeAugustine. “There’s some pretty important people that are teaching our kids.”