With covid cases rising in Westmoreland County and in the towns it serves, the Norwin School District has decided to teach its 5,300 students from home beginning Monday and continuing until at least Monday, Jan. 11.

With school staff being forced to quarantine, employee absenteeism is very high, Superintendent Jeff Taylor said in a statement Thursday. He said that negatively impacts the ability to have enough employees to staff operations, including transportation and food service.

Transitioning to a fully remote learning will provide students and parents with a higher level of consistency of instruction, especially because the district has been able to provide students with live, synchronous learning.

Although Norwin has not any reports of covid-19 outbreaks spread in school, the community transmission rate is “very alarming” and “is significantly impacting school operations,” Taylor said.

Since Thanksgiving, Norwin has seen a surge in cases, with about 65 students and staff reporting they had tested positive.

“These numbers are frightening … to our students, parents and employees,” Taylor said.

Norwin had been instructing its high school and middle school students online since the beginning of the month because of the increase in covid cases among students and staff. The district’s elementary and Hillcrest Intermediate School students have been receiving their instruction in a hybrid mode — two days of in-school learning and three days of instruction.

Hillcrest Intermediate was closed one day this week because of the covid 19 cases.

Taylor noted the governor required that all athletics and extracurricular activities will be temporarily suspended until Monday, Jan. 4, effective Saturday.

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