Weston P. Pesillo, Esq., wpesillo@tuckerlaw.com, (412) 594-5545
On June 3, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (“PDE”) issued preliminary guidance for the phased reopening of pre-K to 12 schools. The guidance applies to school districts, as well as charter schools, regional charter schools, cyber charter schools, career and technical centers, and intermediate units.
This Alert offers a general summary of the guidance, which is intended to serve as a start point for school administrators to consider as they make preparations for the upcoming school year.
Each school entity must create a Health and Safety Plan that will serve as the local guidelines for all school reopening activities. This Health and Safety Plan should be tailored to the unique needs of the school district and should be created in consultation with local health agencies, if possible. Given the dynamic nature of the pandemic, Plans should incorporate sufficient flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. This would include flexibility to modify Plans in response to new, or changes to the existing, guidance issued by the PDE, State Department of Health, or CDC, as well as in response to the possible transition into a less restrictive, or regressing back to a more restrictive, reopening phase.
The Health and Safety Plan must be approved by the school district’s governing body. Once approved by the governing body, the Plan must be submitted to PDE at RA-EDContinuityofED@pa.gov. The Plan must also be posted on the school district’s website prior to the reopening of the school and the provision of services to students.
The contents of the Health and Safety Plan vary depending on which of the three phases of reopening – red, yellow, or green – the county in which the school is located is in. As many counties are now, or soon set to be, in the green phase, and in hopeful expectation that most others will be in the green phase by the start of the next school year, the summary below outlines required and advisable contents of Health and Safety Plans for schools in green phase counties only.
Schools located in counties in the green phase may provide in-person instruction after developing a Health and Safety Plan, securing approval of the Plan by its governing body, and posting the Plan on its website. The Plan must include the following (bullet points in white provide possible additional considerations):
In addition to those required elements of a Health and Safety Plan set forth above, school entities should also consider incorporating into their Health and Safety Plans the following:
All school activities should be informed by Governor Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania[2], and the general restrictions applicable to each of the three reopening phases. The PDE guidance identifies the CDC’s School Decision Tree[3] and Interim Guidance for Schools and Day Camps[4] as additional guidance that may be considered in connection with the reopening of schools.
Given the dynamic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, PDE’s guidance is likely to evolve as further research, data and resources become available. Within the next three weeks, PDE intends to release additional guidance that outlines steps for school re-openings. Additionally, as of Friday, June 5, 2020, an optional Health and Safety Plan template created by PDE will be accessible through PDE’s website.
[1] See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/youth-sports.html.
[2] See https://www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania/.
[3] See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/Schools-Decision-Tree.pdf.
[4] See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/php/CDC-Activities-Initiatives-for-COVID-19-Response.pdf#page=46.
June 05, 2020
The same attributes that have anchored over a century of success are still our guiding principles today.
Enter your email address below and be notified when we post new information.