North Allegheny moving to full-remote learning for remainder of month

Starting on Thursday, the North Allegheny School District will move to full-remote learning through the end of the month because of the uptick in the number of positive covid-19 cases in the county.

During the past week, there 2,870 positive cases for the virus reported in Allegheny County. Since the beginning of the month there have been 4,730 cases in the county, which reflects an increase in the number of children and teens getting sick along with a spike in the number of people who require hospital care.

On Nov. 13, Allegheny County was moved to the “substantial risk category,” which means there have been more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents during a seven-day period.

Health systems in Western Pennsylvania have been bracing for a surge in cases that health officials have predicted will occur during the fall and winter.

District officials said there also has been a corresponding increase in the number of positive covid cases reported in the municipalities served by the district — McCandless, Franklin Park, Marshall and Bradford Woods.

The positivity rate is the percentage of all tests taken to detect the virus that come back with positive results over a seven-day span. The positivity rate for the communities in the district between Nov. 4 and 10 was greater than 10%, according to the district.

So far, there have been 44 covid cases at North Allegheny affecting 26 students and 18 members of the staff.

There currently are nine active cases — two each at the senior high school, Marshall Middle School and Hosack Elementary School.

There also is one case at the intermediate high school, Ingomar Middle School and the central administration building.

“We are seeing a spike in both students and staff needing to quarantine due to outside positive cases. This has resulted in a lack of staff and therefore challenges with covering classrooms and bus routes,” said Superintendent Patrick O’Toole in a letter sent to parents on Monday.

O’Toole said students and staff are being quarantined because a member of their household tested positive for the virus or they came into contact with a person at an off-campus gathering who tested positive.

People are at risk for getting the virus if they are in close contact with somebody who has tested positive.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as being within 6 feet of someone who has covid-19 for 15 minutes or longer.

A total of 699 people in the district are in active quarantine. Of that number, 612 are students and 87 are staff members.

“Based on our contact tracing, and after consultation with the Allegheny County Health Department, we do not have any indication that these cases are connected or that covid-19 is spreading within the district,” O’Toole said.

The blend of in-person and online instruction is scheduled to resume for district students on Dec. 1.