Keystone Central reports 20 student cases of COVID
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – Keystone Central School District has been hit with 20 positive cases of student COVID-19, according to a Friday report to the community from school district superintendent Jacquelyn Martin. Additionally, she reported, another 144 have been reported as contacts, the bulk of the cases in the southern end of the district.
Her full report:
September 10, 2021
Dear KCSD Families and Community,
As we are completing our second week of school, the local numbers of COVID-19 infections continue to rise in our area. According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, our rate of community spread remains in the High range. The Delta variant of COVID-19 is proving to be highly contagious and spreading quickly among children…this is different from what we saw last school year. At the current time, there are 20 known positive cases of COVID-19 among our students and an additional 4 students who are waiting for test results. As of yesterday, there were 144 students identified as contacts. Almost all of these cases are occuring in the schools in our southern tier which includes Central Mountain High, Central Mountain Middle, Liberty-Curtin, Mill Hall, Robb and Woodward Schools.
Last evening our school board passed an updated Health and Safety Plan that states “...will comply with and enforce any state mandated orders pertaining to face masks including the August 31, 2021 Order of the Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health Directing Face Coverings in School Entities. We are aware that many of you feel divided on the mask issue. I am aware of the science presented on both sides of the debate. Please understand that as a public school district, we are required to follow and enforce the PA Mask Order or face consequences from the Pennsylvania Department of Education..
All students, staff and visitors will be expected to comply with the mask requirements while in school unless they have an approved exemption. Student Mask exemptions may be requested using the school district form and by submitting all of the necessary documentation. Anyone who is not willing to comply with this policy will be able to select virtual academy as an alternative learning option. Synchronous remote learning is being used as a temporary measure only and must be approved by the principal.
We kept our schools open for many months last year with our mitigation efforts which included masking. I am again asking for your cooperation and support so we can keep our schools open and all activities running.
We have also decided to make adjustments to our upcoming School Open House format. In order to eliminate the unnecessary risks of exposure of our staff, there will not be any in person activities during the 2021 scheduled open house times. As an alternative to an in-person event, our staff will be creating video messages for families that will be provided to you and posted on our website by Friday, September 17, 2021.
I will keep you updated as new information becomes available. Let’s continue to work together to keep our schools open and our entire community safe.
Respectfully,
Dr. Jacquelyn Martin
Superintendent
