Pennsylvania will continue to leave it up to local public school officials to decide whether to offer any type of in-person learning but there’s a catch.
To continue doing that in counties facing substantial community spread of COVID-19, school officials had to sign a form committing to adhere to the state’s safety measures to protect students and staff.
As of Tuesday, over 750 schools – more than 99% – had submitted their attestation form to the state Department of Education.
By signing it, the superintendent/chief school administrator and school board/governing board president affirms they will comply with the face covering mandate and follow the Department of Health’s guidance on how to handle confirmed cases in buildings if they choose to offer in-person learning. Schools also had the choice of staying fully remote until their county is no longer experiencing substantial disease transmission for two consecutive weeks.
The form also must be posted on a school or district’s website.
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According to a department map that identifies which schools submitted attestation forms, most districts, career and technology centers, intermediate units, and charter schools in the midstate submitted their form. A few school entities are missing from the list but the department’s webpage indicates the list may not be complete and will continue to be updated.
“While 2020 has been unlike any other year in the history of education, our school communities continue to show tremendous flexibility, grit, and resilience,” said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega in a news release. “I am proud of our schools for their unwavering commitment to protecting their communities from an unpredictable virus while ensuring students continue to have access to a safe, quality education.”
With Pennsylvania experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, all but one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties had substantial levels of community transmission, as of Tuesday.
The department weekly includes an updated list on its website identifying whether the level of transmission in a county is low, moderate or substantial to guide school officials in determining whether to go with in-person, a hybrid model or remote instructional delivery.
Schools in counties with substantial levels of transmission for at least two consecutive weeks must switch to fully remote learning unless they completed an attestation form indicating their intention to continue offering in-person learning as they comply with the state’s COVID-19 health and safety mitigation rules.
Along with going fully remote, they also must suspend all extracurricular activities (including athletics, musical ensembles, school plays, student council, clubs, school dances and other school-sponsored or approved activities) while the county is in the substantial range of community transmission.
School entities that did not return their attestation form or don’t adhere to the commitment made by signing the attestation form must go fully remote and suspend extra-curricular activities, Ortega said.
“As we continue to honor local control, we recognize that communities need to know that their schools are committed to critical mitigation strategies when offering in-person instruction,” Ortega said. “The Attestation Form provides public school entities with an additional way to renew their commitment to following health and safety orders and recommendations as they continue to provide in-person instruction.”
The order for compliance with what school officials attest to on the form remains in effect until the Secretary of Health determines the order is no longer necessary to ensure the safety of students, staff and school communities.
In the spring when the pandemic hit Pennsylvania in mid-March, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all schools to halt all in-person learning. For the start of this school year, the department introduced the concept of letting a county’s incidence rate and the percent positivity of diagnostic testing determine whether schools could safely offer in-person instruction or a hybrid model or whether they had to go fully remote.
Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.