The closure will begin Monday, March 16th, 2020 with a tentative return date of Monday, March 30th, 2020.
This will include the districts of:
- Blue Mountain
- Mahanoy Area -
- North Schuylkill -
- Minersville
- Pine Grove
- Pottsville
- Saint Clair
- Schuylkill Haven
- Shenandoah Valley
- Tamaqua Area -
- Tri-Valley
- Williams Valley
- Schuylkill Intermediate Unit and Technology Centers
- Diocese of Allentown Schools
- Gillingham Charter
- Nativity BVM
- Marian Catholic
As of this writing, no cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed with Schuylkill County.
School districts in other counties including Lackawanna and Wayne announced closures as well.
UPDATE: Governor Wolf has just announced that all schools will be closed for 10 business days.
Governor Wolf's Statement:
We understand that these are trying times and recognize the impact of the coronavirus on our students and communities.
First and foremost, my top priority as governor – and that of our education leaders – must be to ensure the health and safety of our students and school communities.
As such, I am ordering that all schools in the commonwealth close for the next two weeks.
Be aware that no school district will be penalized if it fails to meet the 180 day or school hours requirements.
The Department of Education will work with intermediate units and other stakeholders to support school districts with any continuity of learning plans they may be pursuing.
Also, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced today that it received a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow eligible schools to serve meals to low income students in a non-congregate setting, such as a drive-through or grab and go, during this closure. We will also work with schools to assist them with those plans.
We appreciate your collaboration as we work together to deal with this difficult issue.
More on this as it develops.