'Health tops education': Hempfield Area school officials explain remote learning call during virus surge

More than 350 people tuned in to a virtual Hempfield Area School Board meeting on Monday to hear the rationale for why the administration chose to move students to remote learning until after the holidays — a decision made days after the board reaffirmed students would return to the hybrid model of learning.

Superintendent Tammy Wolicki, along with other administration officials, decided late Friday to have students continue with remote learning until Jan. 4, attributing the decision to a rising number of covid-19 cases in community.

Students were scheduled to return to a mix of in-person and remote classes Monday, following a week of remote learning after the Thanksgiving break.

“It is truly a taxing responsibility and, whenever we look at where we are as a community, when we look at the spread that was being reported just last week, we felt rather than opening our doors for a few days only to close them again, that it was in the best interest to maintain the remote-only instruction,” Wolicki said.

Wolicki compared the decision to those she has to make on snow days. Following Thanksgiving, nine staff members tested positive for coronavirus and an additional 20 were quarantining after being identified as close contacts, she said. Community spread also increased over the past month, according to the state Department of Health.

Data released Monday showed Westmoreland County added another 522 cases over the past two days. Of the new cases, 285 were reported Sunday and 237 Monday. Over the past seven day, more than 2,100 cases have been reported in the county.

Overall, nearly 12,000 positive covid-19 cases have been reported in Westmoreland County since spring.

There have been 242 coronavirus-related local deaths, according to the state. At least two people who died worked in local school districts.

Westmoreland County has been classified as having a “substantial” level of virus transmission since mid-October, according to the state. The benchmark level that is reached when there are at least 100 cases per 100,000 residents in a county during a one-week period. The county’s incident rate last week was 436.1.

Wolicki also noted that the positivity rate in the county was 18.9%, above the criteria of 10%.

“I get it’s a challenge, I get it’s not ideal,” she said. “We’d certainly prefer face-to-face, but we also prefer to have all of our students and staff be safe.”

School board members did not have a say in Friday’s decision. Members weighed in on the choice after a number of parents expressed frustration at how the decision was made.

Board member Jeanne Smith, who in October voted to continue with the hybrid model, noted that the spread of coronavirus within the school district is impacting staff members and causing a staffing shortage that has forced several temporary school closures.

“I know it isn’t the best decision for the education the kids are getting, and I’m so sorry for that, and I realize that,” Smith said. “But sometimes I think health tops education, and I think right now it does.”

Board member Sonya Brajdic agreed, adding, “What quality of education are they getting when we don’t have people to fill the classrooms and we’re just shoving somebody in to staff them to cover the room because we don’t have somebody in there. I think at this point in time we need to offer consistency.”

Diane Ciabattoni, the lone board member to vote against continuing with the hybrid model in October, noted that, while schools might have been safe places due to mitigation efforts like cleaning, Plexiglas and social distancing measures, similar measures are not necessarily taken out in the community, leading to staff and students potentially becoming infected and bringing the virus into school buildings.

“I know we’re getting blamed for closing the schools, but we didn’t do it to close them, we did it because of covid,” Ciabattoni said. “I think everyone knows that. The only thing we can do is continue to educate the kids in the best manner that we can because it’s safer for them not to be in school right now and to be around the spread.”

Still, board members Paul Ward and Mike Alfery expressed frustration with having to move to remote learning, as well as with guidance from state officials.

Ward noted that if it came down to a board decision, he would have voted to keep kids in school but said he understood why the administration made the call.

“To think these kids are missing months, days, weeks, years, out of what makes them who they’re going to be in the future,” Alfery said. “It’s a heavy burden to make decisions like this. I don’t disagree with the administration for making the decisions they have been forced to make.”

Board President Tony Bompiani, who has in the past largely expressed his support for students to return to in-person classes, said it was always up to Wolicki to make the decision regarding remote learning.

“I do feel it’s safe in school,” Bompiani said. “I feel it’s very safe, maybe safer for children to be here, but there are other dynamics at work that I can’t control, we can’t control. That’s why a decision was made. … I want our community to band together. These aren’t easy decisions, and none of them are the correct decision.”