Just four days after saying there was no truth to a rumor that Unionville-Chads Ford schools would close on Nov. 16 due to COVID-19, Superintendent John Sanville recommended to school board directors that they should consider returning high school and middle school classes to virtual learning. A vote on that change is scheduled for Nov. 16.
Sanville's recommendation followed an update on COVID-19 case numbers from Dr. Salwa Sulieman, the osteopathic physician the district retained as a consultant on the virus.
Nationally, statewide, and in Chester and Delaware counties, new case numbers have risen she said, with the increase surpassing numbers from earlier in the spring.
"Daily case rates in Pennsylvania are the highest they have been since the start of the pandemic…Hospitalization rates are starting to rise, and death rates are starting to rise." Some of the increase in case numbers is attributed to increases in testing for the virus, she said.
Overall, new case numbers, incidence per 100,000 people, positive case rate percentages, and daily hospitalizations are up in both Chester and Delaware counties, she said. However, Sulieman added there is some positive news.
While there are cases of COVID within the district, the numbers are "quite low" compared to other school districts, she said. There were a total of 13 COVID-19 cases reported within district schools since Sept. 8. During the week of Nov. 1, four new cases were reported, with three of them being students at CF Patton Middle School. The fourth was a staff member. "The four cases were individuals who were not in school buildings or on the grounds," Sulieman said.
Further, none of them are "linked transmissions," meaning they have not transmitted within the schools themselves, or any student to student transmission or transmission between students and teachers.
"Have we seen a linked transmission in schools? We have not," she said.
But Sulieman added that the Chester County Guidelines say districts should consider reverting to virtual learning if numbers increase for the three consecutive weeks and that the change should be phased in, beginning with high school and middle school students.
"It's safe to stay in a hybrid model for the next three weeks assuming there is not massive linked transmission in school," she said. "Schools have been a safer place to be for children than in their households. Because households are where they're getting it."
She suggested that the district look at the numbers during the coming week and vote on Nov. 16 to return the secondary grades to virtual learning. And that was what Sanville proposed to the board.
"Some of the things we need to consider as an organization is our ability to stay open. The number of quarantines for both students and staff are on the rise. It impacts our programs from both a student perspective and, also, our ability to secure substitute teachers," Sanville said.
While mitigation efforts are working well, he said on Nov. 9, the date of the board's work session, more than 100 students were in quarantine and 18 teachers had called out sick. He added that nine of them are in quarantine, while the other nine are following district policy, which says that anyone who does not feel well or has symptoms should stay home.
"It's become increasingly difficult for us to have our schools open, particularly high school and middle school," Sanville said.
He added that could become more of a problem — with more students and teachers out — once flu and cold season hits.
I fear we're going to reach the breaking point that the education we're delivering is going to be stretched so far that it won't be meaningful, that we can do it in a better way from a virtual standpoint." Sanville said. "I just think that's just the way this thing is trending."
In recommending the board consider a return to virtual learning for the secondary-grade students, he said hybrid classes for elementary students should remain unless numbers change for the worse or there's an increase in linked transmission.
If the board does vote to return to virtual classes, that will occur on Nov. 30, the Monday after Thanksgiving. If there's a decrease in numbers, the Nov. 30 date could be pushed back, Sanville said.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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