Increase in covid-19 cases prompts closure of Hempfield Area High School

Hempfield Area High School is closed through Friday, following an increase in covid-19 cases at the school.

Superintendent Tammy Wolicki announced the closure in a letter posted Tuesday on the district website. She said the decision was triggered when another high school student’s positive case was reported to the district Tuesday afternoon, which brought the number of reported student cases at the high school to 12 since Oct. 12.

Also Tuesday, an additional student at the middle school level tested positive, Wolicki reported.

Those cases bring the total to 19 among students and four among staff members since Oct. 12. An additional 142 students and 16 employees were quarantining after being identified as close contacts related to school cases.

High school athletics are canceled through Friday. Free school meals may continue to be picked up between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily at the school.

Hempfield Area offers a hybrid instructional program where students alternate between in-person and online learning.

For now, Wolicki said, the district plans to reopen the high school on Monday for part of the student body to attend in person. But, she added, if state Department of Health officials determine that Westmoreland County continues to experience a “substantial” level of community spread, the district can expect a state recommendation by Oct. 26 to step back to online-only instruction.

In that case, the high school and middle schools would move to full-time online instruction on Oct. 28, with elementary buildings following suit on Oct. 29, according to Wolicki.

District parents are asked to complete a survey by Friday indicating if they want their elementary children to receive a district Chromebook for online learning. Because of a back order for more than 800 additional Chromebooks, secondary students may be asked to use their personal devices and return district Chromebooks they’ve been issued, for possible use by elementary pupils.