Norwin Middle School to close Monday
Norwin Middle School will be closed to students Monday because two more students have tested positive for coronavirus, forcing staff to instruct all students in a virtual manner, the district said Friday.
The two students with coronavirus will require extensive contact tracing with students whose last name begins with a letter from A to K, who take classes together two days a week.
The school district is educating students in a hybrid method, with one-half of the student body taking in-school classes two days a week, and the other half taking them two days a week, with all students receiving virtual instruction on Wednesdays.
The school will be ready for staff to return on Monday. Students whose last name begins with a letter from L to Z will return to middle school on Tuesday. The middle school has 860 students in a district with about 5,300 students.
The contract tracing will be conducted in collaboration with the guidance from the state Department of Health, the district said.
With the latest announcement of students infected with the virus, there have been about 60 students and staff who have had covid-19 since school began on Aug. 31.
Since Monday, the district has had nine students and three staff members report they have tested postive for the coronavirus. The number of cases in North Huntingdon, Irwin and North Irwin jumped about 22% from Nov. 9 to 16 as cases have spiked throughout the county.
Superintendent Jeff Taylor told the school board Monday that 512 students had to quarantine for 14-to-24 days since school began because they had covid-19 or had close contact with someone who had symptoms or tested positive.
There have been 28 staff members who have had to quarantine because of illness or close contact with someone, which Taylor said has made it difficult to keep the schools open because of a lack of adults. Some principals have had to teach classes, Taylor said.
“We may have to close a school because of staff having to quarantine and not a sufficient number of substitutes or paraprofessionals,” district officials said Thursday.
Norwin will keep monitoring numbers and data, and make decisions accordingly, the district said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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