Three high schools go full-remote, at least briefly, due to COVID-19 cases

Reports of positive COVID-19 test results sent three local high schools into remote-only learning, though for different lengths of time.

Dallas posted a notice Sunday evening that the high school would hold classes remote-only Monday after learning one student tested positive. The notice pointed out that the student had last been in the school Thursday, Oct. 8. The move did not affect the district’s other schools, which are holding classes in a hybrid system that brings about half the students into the buildings while the other half learn live on line, then switches the two groups.

Dallas did not schedule Monday, Columbus Day, as a district holiday. By Monday afternoon the district added to the original notice: “All school district operations, including extracurricular events, will resume as scheduled at 3 p.m. today, Oct. 12, 2020.”

Greater Nanticoke Area, which is also using a hybrid system alternating two groups of students in school and at home, posted a notice that “Due to a positive COVID-19 case, the high school will be virtual from Oct. 13th through October 16th.” Unlike Dallas, GNA had scheduled Monday as a holiday.

Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center, which primarily serves five Luzerne County Districts with half-day trade instruction while leaving academic lessons to a student’s home district, also went full remote this week, though the news was posted on the Facebook page fore Crestwood, one of the member districts. According to the post, the move was made “due to a COVID-19 situation. Like GNA, the CTC had Monday scheduled as a holiday.

The center had previously reported a COVID-19 case on the practical nursing side of the building, and moved most of those classes to full-remote, citing the need to protect students who would be heading out into medical facilities for required clinical experience. At the time, CTC Administrative Director Anthony Guariglia said at the time that only one door connected the two sections, and that it was kept locked to avoid students on either side from contacting each other.

Wilkes-Barre Area School District has also been grappling with confirmed cases of COVID-19, though apparently with little interruption for students overall. The district gave all parents and students three options: Full in-person classes in school, live remote classes at home, and asynchronous remote lessons online at home. About 43% opted for live classes in school, making social distancing easier and avoiding the need to break them into alternate groups like Dallas and GNA.

Initially, two probable cases of COVID-19 were reported at Dan Flood Elementary . Students at that school switched from option 1 to option 2 (Live virtual lessons) from Sept. 24 to Sept 28.

Two additional cases were confirmed in early October, one at Meyers High School and one at Solomon Plains Junior High. with help from the state Department of Health, the district determined neither was in “direct contact” with any students in their respective buildings. Direct contact means within six feet for 15 minutes or longer. As a result, all schools continued with regularly scheduled classes.

Last Friday, one positive case and one probable case were reported at Meyers. Again, contact tracing showed neither had been in direct contact with students, faculty or staff, so other students continued to attend class as scheduled.