Vote On Montco School Closure Plan Expected Friday

UPDATE: Montco Schools Ordered To Go Fully Virtual For 2 Weeks

NORRISTOWN, PA — The Montgomery County Board of Health will vote Friday on a proposal to close all county schools to in-person learning for two weeks beginning Nov. 23. A decision on the matter was expected Thursday, but was delayed after dozens of parents and school administrators emotionally rejected the plan during a nearly three-hour meeting.

The proposal, put together by the Office of Public Health and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh and based on guidance from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Policy Lab, cites the anticipated rise in cases surrounding the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

A vote was placed on the agenda for Thursday's meeting, but the Board of Health said they wanted more time to consider public comments.

"I appreciate everybody's time," Michael Laign, the chair of the Board of Health, said at the conclusion of the meeting, over a chorus of frustrated voices demanding an immediate vote. "I assure you, we listened."

School administrators who spoke in the meeting Thursday kept coming back to many of the same points: schools are not causing spread, the decision to close should be left up to individual districts, and the county should issue recommendations and not mandates.

>>COVID Positivity Rate Up To 7.42 Percent In Montgomery County

"We have no data of linked transmission in our schools," said Barbara Russell, superintendent at Perkiomen School District, who urged the county to take a more personalized approach. "There are some districts suffering more than others."

As recently as a week ago, Montgomery County officials said that any school with an outbreak would be asked to close to in-person instruction. Some schools, like Lower Moreland, have already done so. This vote could formalizes that hypothetical guidance into an order.

"We need to look at the size of the schools," added Eileen Fagan, the principal at St. Hilary of Poitier's School in Abington. "We as schools have opened with extreme caution...respect us as leaders when you're deciding."

Like Pennsylvania, Montgomery County has seen record numbers of new cases in recent weeks. There have been 1,868 new cases over the last 14 days altogether, which is a huge increase over the 854 the previous two weeks. The percent positivity rate on all coronavirus tests is up to 7.42, from a low of 1.97 on Oct. 13.

"We know what is best for students," said Theresa Healy, withHoly Cross in Collegeville. "We have every safety precaution in place. Truly listen to us today, and understand that this is what our children need."

The meeting, held virtually via Zoom Thursday morning, maxed out at 500 participants, with many unable to access the call. More than 50 people commented, with nearly all of them strongly rejecting the closures.

"You're impacting families, impacting them financially, impacting them emotionally, and you all sit there and pretend this is real," Michael Neopolitan, an Upper Merion parent of two children. "It's all fake. This is not true. There is no evidence that schools are causing these issues...You're ruining lives."

Parents were also concerned the closure would last far longer than two weeks, like the widespread shutdown in the spring, which officials granted was a possibility. "Potential for expansion" of the closure is included in the proposed order.

"Last time I was told two weeks, it turned into 242 days," Upper Dublin parent Lisa Barry said. "That's my fear, that once you pull this plug, (that's it)...Don't do two weeks, it's not gonna be two weeks."

Others impugned the basis for the proposal, and even questioned CHOP's motivations in providing the guidance on which the decision was based.

"They're always going to choose Draconian measures," said Upper Merion resident Gregg Schultz. "There's no reputational risk for them to do otherwise. Of course CHOP is going to recommend closure."

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Monday there were no plans for a blanket statewide school closure. She said the issue is discussed by state officials "on a regular basis."