In-School COVID Closes Pottsgrove Middle School

One day after an intermediate grade building in the Spring-Ford School District was closed due to in-school transmission of COVID-19 in the the building, the same thing happened in the Pottsgrove School District.

Tuesday, Pottsgrove announced to parents that a suspected transmission of the virus in school resulted in the closure of Pottsgrove Middle School and an immediate return to virtual learning.

"We will return to our hybrid model on "Tuesday, Feb. 8," read the letter home from the administration.

"This move back to virtual will also suspend all middle school after school programs and sports. While we know this is disappointing news, the health, safety, and well-being of our school community remains our top priority," the letter read.

"It’s important to note that this move back to virtual is based on suspected link transmission within a classroom as well as other individual cases inside the middle school. We will continue our contact tracing efforts to identify any additional exposures that may occur in the building," the administration wrote.

"The 14-day move to virtual is the county’s protocol for linked transmission. If it is determined that linked transmission is not confirmed, the return to school date may be altered. We would notify accordingly," according to the district announcement. 

During Tuesday's school board meeting, Superintendent William Shirk noted that "we don't make these decisions lightly," adding that student cases are because "adults are not doing due diligence." 

According to Shirk, "in our contract tracing, we've found Pottsgrove parents are sending symptomatic students to school. Then the district has to react. This taxes our nurses," he said.

"Please continue to watch for primary symptoms of COVID-19, which include shortness of breath, coughing, and fever or chills. Other symptoms include congestion, sore throat, diarrhea, abdominal pain, body aches, and loss of taste or smell," according to the announcement. 

Superintendent William Shirk shared the latest

COVID figures with the school board Tuesday.

Pottsgrove School Board member Bill Parker took the occasion of the announcement to suggest the board re-visit the decision to re-open Pottsgrove buildings to in-person learning. 

"This is why we've had close votes about re-opening secondary buildings," Parker said. "I don't think its worth the chance. Now we have seen student-to-student spread," he said, adding "now you can start the hate mail."

However, as no other board members took Parker up on his suggestion, perhaps his in-box will remain relatively empty.

In the meantime, COVID cases have temporarily shut down the basketball programs at both Pottsgrove High School and Middle School, as well as the high school cheerleading program.

Further, board member Jim Lapic said he has seen Instagram posts of Pottsgrove High School students posing for selfies in the building without wearing masks.

The Pottsgrove Middle School closure comes as COVID-19 positive cases are beginning to drop in Montgomery County and in the townships which comprise the Pottsgrove School District, said Shirk..

While we know remote learning is not optimal, we are working hard to ensure a high-quality learning experience for all students and the connections between and among students and teachers continue. As always, thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this difficult situation.

Click here to read the Tweets from the meeting.