No plans for statewide school closure

BARB? >> The Reporter: ALL RIGHT, LORI, ONE DAY AFTER GOVERNOR WOLF SUSPENDED EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES FOR SCHOOLS UNTIL JANUARY 4, THE ACTING SECRETARY OF EDUCATION SAYS THERE WILL BE NO STATEWIDE CLOSURE FOR SCHOOLS, DESPITE THE RECENT SPREAD AND SPIKE IN COVID-19 CASES. HE SAYS THIS IS NOT A ONE SIZE FITS ALL APPROACH. HE WANTS LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO CONTINUE TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS AS TO WHETHER TO HAVE IN-PERSON LEARNING OR TO CLOSE IF THERE IS A SPIKE IN CASES. BUT THEY ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE AND HE DID ADMIT THAT THERE ARE INEQUITIES WHEN IT COMES TO SOME SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS IN VIRTUAL LEARNING AS OPPOSED TO GOING TO SCHOOL IN PERSON. >> WHEN WE BEGAN TO WORK TOWARDS THE MITIGATION AND CONTAINMENT EFFORTS AROUND COVID-19, THE OBVIOUS FIRST STEP WAS TO PIVOT AWAY FROM IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION TO REMOTE LEARNING. IN DOING SO, WE CREATE OF COURSE, INEQUITIES IN TERMS OF PEOPLE WHO CAN ACT VEST — ACCESS LEARNING. >> The Reporter: HE ALSO SAYS THERE’S BEEN 100{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} COMPLIANCE AS FAR AS SCHOOLS RETURNING THOSE ATTESTATION FORMS, A NEW WORD IN OUR VOCAB LAMAR ODOM. BASICALLY IT MEANS THAT SCHOOLS ARE GOING TO COMPLY WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION, BEING TRAINLESS PARENT TO THE COMMUNITY WHEN — TRANSPARENT TO THE COMMUNITY WHEN IT COMES TO THE NUMBER OF CASES IN SCHOOLS. THE MITIGATION EFFORTS THEY ARE TAKING AS TO WHY THEY’RE MAKING DECISIONS WHETHER TO GO IN-PERSON OR V VIRTUAL LEARNING, AND OF COURSE, THE STATE ALSO DOES HAVE A COMPLAINT LINE, SO IF ANYONE DOES HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT A CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICT, THEY CAN CALL AND EXPRESS THEIR CONCERNS. I’M LI

Pennsylvania’s acting education secretary says there are no plans for statewide school closure

WGAL News 8 coronavirus coverage

Updated: 12:51 PM EST Dec 11, 2020

A day after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf suspended extracurricular activities at schools for the next three weeks, Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega said there are no plans to enact a statewide school closure like in the spring.Ortega said Friday that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, so he wants local leaders to continue making decisions about whether it’s necessary to close schools and shift to online instruction due to COVID-19 cases.Ortega added that he recognizes there are disparities among schools and students when it comes to virtual learning.“When we began to work towards the mitigation and containment efforts around COVID-19, the obvious first step was to pivot away from in-person instruction to remote learning. In doing so, we create inequities in terms of people who can access learning,” he said.Ortega said all of the state’s school districts have returned attestation forms confirming their compliance with health and safety measures. The forms were required for districts in counties with substantial coronavirus transmission for at least two weeks.

A day after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf suspended extracurricular activities at schools for the next three weeks, Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega said there are no plans to enact a statewide school closure like in the spring.

Ortega said Friday that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, so he wants local leaders to continue making decisions about whether it’s necessary to close schools and shift to online instruction due to COVID-19 cases.

Ortega added that he recognizes there are disparities among schools and students when it comes to virtual learning.

“When we began to work towards the mitigation and containment efforts around COVID-19, the obvious first step was to pivot away from in-person instruction to remote learning. In doing so, we create inequities in terms of people who can access learning,” he said.

Ortega said all of the state’s school districts have returned attestation forms confirming their compliance with health and safety measures. The forms were required for districts in counties with substantial coronavirus transmission for at least two weeks.