Norwin School District Shifts To Online-Only Learning Through At Least January 11 Of Next Year
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. (KDKA) -- Norwin School District is temporarily shifting all learning to online-only through the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
According to a letter from the district's Superintendent Dr. Jeff Taylor from Thursday, Dec. 10, all students will be learning remotely from Monday, Dec. 14 through at least Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.
In the letter, Taylor said that the spread of COVID-19 had impacted employees' ability to attend school due to observing COVID-19 quarantine precautions and falling ill with the virus or other illnesses. He said this, along with rising COVID-19 cases in the Norwin community, had influenced the district's decision to switch learning modalities.
"Norwin's positivity rate is more than double that of the County's rate," Taylor said. "These numbers are frightening. They are frightening to our students, parents and employees. And, quite honestly, when students do not feel safe, they cannot learn effectively. Additionally, when teachers do not feel safe, their instruction is negatively impacted, and justifiably so."
The district will continue to rely on guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health moving forward, according to Taylor.