After two-plus hours of public comment during a Zoom meeting – and facing fervor at some frustrated parents – the Montgomery County Board of Health on Thursday opted to recess, assess comments, and reconvene Friday at noon to vote to approve or deny an order mandating the temporary closure of public and private schools for grades K-12 for two weeks, beginning Nov. 23, and move to all-virtual learning. This includes special education.
There is also the potential for the closure to go beyond two weeks.
North Penn School District Superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich held off comments on the matter until after Friday’s vote.
The closure’s purpose is to cut down on the transmission of COVID-19 expected with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, where social gatherings and travel will occur among families and friends. Of those 14 days of closure, most schools will be open for eight days, due to the Thanksgiving break.
“We are here because each-and-every-one of us cares about the health and wellbeing of children. We feel most passionately about our most valuable resources – children,” said Janet Panning, interim health administrator of the Montgomery County Department of Health & Human Services. “We believe this will help compensate for the increased risk of transmission anticipated due to indoor gatherings over the Thanksgiving period.”
The order would also cancel school-sanctioned extracurricular activities, including sports games and practices.
“This order was not created in a silo. Montgomery County was in regular communication with school staff, parents and caregivers, and the Intermediate Unit,” Panning said. “We believe this is the best option to return students to school after the Thanksgiving holidays.”
Board member Dr. Francis Jeyaraj said the risk in Montgomery County would be considered “more dread,” with a 5% positivity rate. “We are also getting into flu season and that makes it an additional risk.”
Board of Health Chairman Michael Laign said the intent is to get control of what COVID-19 is now, so it does not accelerate later on, in December.
Montgomery County Communicable Disease Control & Prevention Division Director Michel Masters said the COVID-19 positivity rates have increased in the county from 2.31% to 5.2%, over the past three weeks.
“(This order) would pause the COVID spread specifically associated with social gatherings and events over a two-week period, “ Masters said. “Individuals exposed at a gathering begin to develop symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, which would be the week after Thanksgiving.”
Masters said the Office of Public Health is dedicated to keeping students in school using blended and hybrid models.
“The goal is, on Dec. 7, to support schools’ transition back to a hybrid-blend learning model,” Masters said. “Social gatherings and sports are vectors of transmissions currently.”
Daily cases are higher now than they were at their peak in the Spring — both statewide and in Montgomery County — and new cases are increasing exponentially. On Thursday, Pennsylvania reported a record high of 5,488 new cases, and hospitalizations are also increasing exponentially over the last month, reaching 2,196 as of today.
Deaths are also increasing, but not at the rates of cases and hospitalizations.
North Penn School District has reported 10 positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff since Oct. 30, according to its COVID-19 case dashboard. Inglewood Elementary on Thursday announced two new student cases, bringing that school’s total student cases to three. York Avenue on Thursday reported one staff member has tested positive and will be quarantined for 10 days.
All in all, there have been five staff cases and five student cases. The staff members work at Pennbrook Middle School, North Penn High School, York Avenue Elementary and Montgomery Elementary. The students affected attend Montgomery and Inglewood elementary schools, as well as Pennbrook Middle School.
This article will be updated shortly to reflect some of the public comments made during today’s meeting.
See also:
Montco To Vote Tomorrow On Sending All Students Back To Virtual Learning For Two Week Period
North Penn Reports Additional COVID-19 Cases As Students Return To In-Person Schooling
North Penn Confirms 1 Student, 2 Staff Members Tested Positive For COVID-19
Two PECO Issues Add $25K To Cost Of Knapp Elementary Project
