November 25, 2020

Dear Penn-Delco Community,

On this Thanksgiving eve, I am reaching out with a note of gratitude as well as some important information related to recently updated state health guidance on COVID-19. Dr. Levine, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, has increased the mitigation requirements related to COVID-19 and issued two new updates that impact our schools.

The first further emphasizes the importance of masking. It affirms our mask procedures previously identified by the District. The second area addressed by Dr. Levine is travel outside of Pennsylvania. This directive led to questions by some parents with respect to school attendance for their children. 

The travel order states: “Pennsylvanians visiting other states must have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to their return, or else they need to quarantine for 14 days.”  Specific points of note:

  • There are no longer specific identified states/areas on the restricted list. Travel to any state/areas outside of PA requires either a negative test or quarantine.
  • Any individuals traveling outside of Pennsylvania must either quarantine for 14 days or present a negative test result within 72 hours prior to their return.
  • Links to the new orders can be found here.

The district acknowledges that some parents may need to keep their children home from school in order to comply with the state order and you are certainly encouraged to honor the state honor and do so - there should be no reservation.

Students who are quarantined due to the order will continue to have access to instruction via our virtual learning models. Further, we ask that parents maintain the outstanding commitment we have seen to the daily symptom check and keep your children home from school if they exhibit COVID-19 symptoms. It is your diligence and attention to this that has helped us keep our schools free from COVID transmission thus far. Should your child have to quarantine, we ask that you simply notify your school's attendance secretary or principal so the school is aware that your child will not be present in school during the quarantine period.

Additional Guidance
This week the Department of Health and Department of Education also released updated guidance for schools who are offering in-person instruction in counties that are experiencing substantial community spread of the virus. Delaware County is presently in that category. The guidance sets forth specific actions the district must take based upon the number of positive COVID cases among staff and students at each school building, including the requirement to move to all virtual, remote learning if levels become high.

Thus far, Penn-Delco's number of positive cases remains substantially below the number requiring full remote learning. Accordingly, we will continue to stay the course and stick to our hybrid schedule while we can. I continue to believe that in-person learning is critical for many students, even if it is just a few days per week. Still, if the linked transmission data on positive COVID-19 cases among our students and staff should happen to rise to the level in which we are required to convert to virtual learning, we will follow the state order and do so. Our success in offering hybrid and virtual instruction opportunities for our students ultimately comes down to the success of everyone in our region making wise choices to stem the spread of this virus. 

Everyone in the Penn-Delco School District deserves a peaceful and pleasant Thanksgiving Holiday, even though many will be celebrating it quite differently this year. Thanks to our families, students, and our staff, we can be thankful that the district can continue to serve students during this pandemic to ensure our students are ultimately "Ready for Life". May your Thanksgiving weekend be as enjoyable as it is deserved.

Gratefully Yours,
Dr. George Steinhoff