St. Marys Area School District officials have announced that students will continue remote learning through the middle of January.
Initially, the district had announced that students would be remote learning from Jan 4 — 11, following the holiday break.
A statement released via social media explains that, due to the continued high number of COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate of 52.7% last week in the area, there will be no in-person learning until “at least Jan. 18.”
The school district’s sports and other extracurricular activities will not be held until further notice.
A form to report COVID-19 exposure and illness is available on the school’s Facebook page and also the district website, which will help families keep the schools informed in a safe and confidential manner.
Meals are available for students while remote learning. A form for that is available on the school’s Facebook page, along with further information on pickup dates.
The district board meeting scheduled for Jan. 11 has been canceled.
As of Wednesday, Elk County had 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 598 probable. Of those, St. Marys had 452 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 233 probable.
State health officials remain concerned that another spike is imminent, following the holidays.
