West Chester Schools Going Remote As 100s Of Staff Quarantine

WEST CHESTER, PA — The two weeks of school following Thanksgiving will see all-virtual instruction in West Chester school district amid serious staffing shortages as quarantine orders keep school staff at home.

In a Nov. 23 meeting of the West Chester Area School Board, District Superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon reported to the board of directors that his administrative team has been busy with contact tracing "pretty much seven days a week" as COVID-19 case counts in Chester County "continue to quickly rise."

Scanlon said the district would return to fully remote learning between Nov. 30 and Dec. 14, the two weeks following the Thanksgiving break. But, Scanlon explained the primary reason for the move to all-virtual classes is staffing shortage resulting from quarantines.

On Nov. 22 West Chester Area School District had 213 staff in quarantine and that number is about to increase as family visits take people across state lines.

Scanlon pointed out that because of geography, it's not that far to travel to New Jersey, Delaware, or Maryland, where many have family, but the trips are still "going out of state." Scanlon told the board that nearly 100 staff will travel out of state for Thanksgiving, and so are required to produce a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine for 14 days on return before they may return to work or school.

"The good news is, we have been keeping transmission of the virus out of our schools, but it sure is putting a lot of pressure on our ability to staff," Scanlon said.

Since August, WCASD has seen 88 positive COVID-19 cases, resulting in over 600 staff and students having to quarantine, following health department guidelines. Scanlon reported that on Sunday, administration tracked six new positive cases and those resulted in some 30 additional quarantines.

"Our region and nation are facing a national shortage of substitutes and we are struggling to provide adequate coverage for all of our classes; even when we have deployed district office administrators and other staff members out to cover classes," the superintendent said.

The district's special education programs have been hit hard, with 30 percent of their staff in quarantine.

Scanlon said the school district is sending out information this week seeking parents who qualify to substitute teach or serve as paraprofessionals, who might be willing to help.

Scanlon said the district plans to return all students to school in the hybrid instruction model on Dec. 14. "We are looking forward to the quarantine being over," he said, "and getting back to our 'normal' of at least the hybrid model."