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Kiski Area School District will remain open, citing low transmission locallyTeghan Simonton Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 5:48 p.m.| Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 5:48 p.m.Go Ad-Free

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Kiski Area School District will remain open for hybrid in-person instruction, breaking with some other districts in Westmoreland County.

The state Department of Education has recommended that Westmoreland County districts move to fully remote instruction to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. For the last two weeks, the

county has experienced “substantial” community transmission, according to the state’s Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard.

The dashboard put Westmoreland’s covid-19 incidence rate at 124 per 100,000 residents on Monday.

In the last day or so, districts including neighboring New Kensington-Arnold, as well as Southmoreland and Greater Latrobe have decided to temporarily close buildings.

But the county’s overall transmission does not match what’s happening in Kiski Area’s specific ZIP codes, according to data provided by the district. In a letter sent to district families,

Superintendent Tim Scott wrote that Kiski Area’s incidence rate was 47.8 per 100,000 residents, indicating “moderate” community transmission. Additionally, he wrote, the percent positivity

rate is about 2% lower in Kiski Area than in the county as a whole.

The district will continue using its hybrid instruction model that allows for two days of in-school instruction.

“It is likely that the coronavirus will place a greater strain on our operations as we head into late fall and winter,” the letter reads. “I believe it is imperative that we allow for

in-person learning while we remain able to do so.”

With recommendations from state agencies feeling like “pressure points,” Scott said the decision to stick to the district’s current plan wasn’t easy.

Officials from the state Department of Health and Education met with Westmoreland County superintendents twice in the last two weeks and suggested all districts move online — but the

Department of Health is not mandating online learning at this time.

The countywide numbers have caused the district to postpone plans to expand in-person learning. It had been planning to offer students the option to attend school in person four days a week

beginning in the second quarter.

Scott said the four-day model will be delayed as officials monitor the county and district data.

Meanwhile, families with concerns about the current hybrid plan can move their students to a 100% online option at any time.

Some parents in the district expressed frustration online that the school wouldn’t be moving forward with the four-day plan or bring students back for the full week. But several said they

were grateful the district was maintaining the current system while others close.

“The bottom line is we all want our kids in school five days a week. It’s just deciding what that’s going to look like and what the time frame is going to be,” said Amy Halter, a mother to a

fourth-grader and high school sophomore.

Halter said she worried, with the county’s rising case levels, that if the district moved forward with more in-person instruction and had to shut down later, they would have no choice but to

go fully online. Now, at least there is some option for face-to-face learning, she said.

Dawn Lane, a mother to a fifth- and a sixth-grader in the district, said she’s noticed differences in the demeanor of her own children and others in the region since they haven’t been able

to interact with classmates. She said she feels the two days of in-person class are essential.

“I’m super thankful that Kiski is even giving us the chance to still do hybrid,” she said. “My kids need it.”

Kiski Area has recorded at least six cases of covid-19 among students and staff this school year, but Scott said each case was shown to be the result of community transmission rather than

from transmission inside school buildings.

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