Pennsylvania’s public schools should be the safest and healthiest places for students to learn and grow. To make sure they are, we need the most qualified teachers, teaching assistants, school nurses, counselors, psychologists, and social workers.
March 3, 2021: Gov. Tom Wolf announced that Pennsylvania will dedicate 94,600 doses of the recently approved Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as part of a special program only available for school staff members. PSEA has launched www.psea.org/covid19vaccine to help inform members of this important news.
February 11, 2021: PSEA President Rich Askey joined with leaders of every major education association in Pennsylvania to urge the Wolf administration to prioritize the COVID-19 vaccine for school staff members. Check out the press release and letter.
December 11, 2020: PSEA President Rich Askey sends a letter to the secretaries of Education and Health, urging them to take immediate action to clarify two elements of the state guidance for school entities related to recommendations following identification of cases of COVID-19 in a school setting.
December 10, 2020: PSEA releases a new Legal Alert on school entities’ compliance with state COVID-19 guidelines and encourages members to notify PSEA about school entities that are
not complying with state guidelines using a new web form.
November 11, 2020: PSEA President Rich Askey releases statement on mounting cases of COVID-19 and what it means for PA schools.
September 1, 2020: The Department of Education has issued guidance related to when and for how long schools should close when students or staff members contract COVID-19.
Inside this issue:
On August 10, Gov. Wolf outlined new statewide guidance aimed at helping schools decide whether it is safe to reopen for in-person instruction.
The guidance places each Pennsylvania county in one of three tiers, based on the county’s COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population or its infection rate percentage. Depending on what tier a county is in, the guidance provides recommendations about whether public schools should open for in-person instruction, adopt hybrid plans, or offer remote-only learning.
These designations are updated weekly. The latest county designations are shown in the map below.
In addition, the Department of Education has issued guidance related to when and for how long schools should close when students or staff members contract COVID-19.
School entities in counties with “substantial” levels of COVID-19 transmission must attest to complying with state guidelines related to face coverings and responses to COVID-19 cases in their buildings in order to continue offering any in-person instruction.
Learn More – Face Coverings:
Legal Alert: School Entity COVID-19 Attestations and Documentation of Non-Compliance
If you believe that your school entity is not complying with these state requirements, feel free to let PSEA know about it. Complete the form at the link below and we will share the information with the state Department of Education.
PSEA is keeping track of how schools are reopening. Reviewing websites for Pennsylvania’s 499 school districts, we’ve identified whether a school district is teaching students virtually, with a hybrid model, or in-person. This is the best data available, and no one else is collecting it on a statewide basis. The data is also very fluid, since some school districts are changing their methods of instruction when they identify cases of COVID-19 among their students and staff members. Some school districts may have changed their instructional approaches since this data was collected.
Below is a “living map,” and it will be updated periodically. If you have more updated information about any school district, feel free to share it at schoolmapupdates@psea.org.
In-Person: an open model for all students and staff five days a week with some students/families opting for distance learning out of personal safety/health concerns
Hybrid: a blended model that balances in-person learning and remote learning for all students, (for example, alternating days or weeks), or a scaffolded model where some students are engaged in in-person learning while others are distance learning (for example, some grade levels in-person while other grade levels are remote learning)
Virtual: total remote learning for all students (includes future actions/steps to be implemented and conditions that would prompt the decision as to when schools will open for in-person learning)
Educators Growing Together is designed to bring groups of PSEA members together to share ideas and respond to one another’s questions about specific challenges related to our new teaching and learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The forums reflect a belief that the most effective way for PSEA members to cope with these new and sudden professional demands is together and the best source of information for problem-solving is each other.
All participants will receive two hours of Act 48 for submitting written responses to and attending one online discussion with PSEA colleagues.
You know how the COVID-19 emergency has impacted our schools and our students. And you have done an incredible job meeting our students’ needs while our schools have been closed.
Now, we need to make sure that, when our schools open again, we can do it in a way that keeps everyone in them safe and healthy and ensures that our jobs, our salaries, and our pensions are protected from budget cuts.
Why is this important?
We need federal help
The federal government is the only place we can turn for help. In the past few months, Congress has approved more than $2 trillion in assistance for working people, businesses, and health care providers. Now, we need to tell our federal representatives that their public schools need urgent assistance.
YOU CAN HELP - 📧 Speak out today! 📣
Our jobs, our salaries, our pensions, and the health and safety of everyone who learns and works in public schools is at stake. Contact your U.S. senator today 👇 and urge them to support $175 billion in emergency federal aid for public education.
“The best way to reduce health risks in schools and reduce reliance on social distancing guidelines is to vaccinate school staff members as soon as possible.”
The association leaders added that prioritizing the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine to school staff will help Pennsylvania schools to open for in-person instruction and make it safer to bring more students back to their classrooms.
“Across Pennsylvania, we know school staff members are anxious about being in close contact with others for 7 hours a day. We also know that many parents want to get their children back into school so that they don’t miss the in-person instruction that every student deserves. Of course, everyone is hoping to return to normal operations when the 2021-22 school year begins.
“By prioritizing providing the COVID-19 vaccine to school staff members, we can address all of these issues and we can do it quickly. This will offer a new level of safety and confidence for staff members, students, and their families, and help speed the safe reopening of all of Pennsylvania’s schools for in-person instruction.”
Given the tremendous challenges of this pandemic, PSEA believes that it is more important for educators and students to focus on teaching and learning rather than on high-stakes standardized testing.
That's why we joined other Pennsylvania education groups to send a letter to President Biden and his Education Secretary-designee Miguel Cardona. We are respectfully requesting that the U.S. Department of Education offer states a waiver to standardized testing requirements for the 2020-2021 school year.
On Jan. 13, 2020, PSEA President Rich Askey sent a letter to the secretaries of Education and Health, urging them to take action in enforcing state COVID-19 guidelines for school entities.
"I am very concerned about recent changes to Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 guidance for school entities in the commonwealth, which would allow additional students to return to in-person instruction before students, school staff, and their families can have confidence that existing state guidelines are being properly followed."
"Now is the time to exercise the most extreme caution and compliance, so that we can beat
this virus and get our schools back open for in-person instruction once and for all. We
can’t do this without clear state leadership and a focus on ensuring that every school
entity is following state health and safety guidance to the letter."
"I encourage you, in the strongest possible terms, to take these steps and take them
immediately."
Gov. Tom Wolf today outlined new statewide guidance aimed at helping schools decide whether it is safe to reopen for in-person instruction.
The guidance places each Pennsylvania county in one of three tiers, based on the county’s COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population or its infection rate percentage. Depending on what tier a county is assigned, the guidance provides recommendations about whether public schools should open for in-person instruction, adopt hybrid plans, or offer remote learning only.
Low – Full In-Person Instruction: Schools in counties with under 10 cases per 100,000 and with an infection positivity rate of under 5 percent can have full in-person instruction.
Moderate – Blended Learning Model or Full Remote Learning: Schools in counties with between 10 and 100 cases per 100,000 or with an infection positivity rate of between 5 percent and 9.9 percent should provide blended learning or full remote learning only.
Substantial – Full Remote Learning Only: Schools in counties with more than 100 cases per 100,000 or with an infection positivity rate of 10 percent or over should offer full remote learning only.
Case and infection rate information used to determine which tier a county is assigned will be updated weekly. According to the guidance, school entities should deliver instruction as described in the tier into which their county falls for at least two weeks. Any county with fewer than 10 cases is excluded from the new guidance.
These new reopening measures are guidance for our schools, and PSEA will strongly encourage all schools in Pennsylvania to follow it. Doing that will ensure that Pennsylvania’s students, staff, and families stay safe; that we slow the spread of the virus; and that we know schools will be safe places to learn and work when the virus is under control.
We’re grateful for the governor’s leadership and appreciate his commitment to keeping Pennsylvania’s students, educators, support professionals, and their families safe. His announcement today provides a clear pathway for school leaders who are struggling to decide whether it’s safe to reopen schools for in-person instruction.
Stay tuned for more information as this develops. PSEA will continue to push the state to produce the clearest possible guidance.
"As communities throughout Pennsylvania prepare to return to school in whatever form, the challenges are many and the answers are few. Reopening will look different in each school entity – that is the reality of a “local control” state. “Local control” should not, however, mean the absence of statewide consistency and clear expectations for certain protocols and strategies that have proven most effective for mitigating COVID-19 transmission in our schools. A failure to consistently apply mitigation strategies will result in needlessly exposing students, staff, and their families to a deadly virus with no cure."
We were expecting members of the U.S. Senate to unveil their next round of COVID-19 aid legislation this week, but Senate leaders decided that they need more time to finish the bill. Now, it’s likely to be introduced next week.
But our message remains the same. The nation’s K-12 schools and colleges and universities need $175 billion in emergency federal aid to ensure that they have the resources to reduce health risks to students and staff.
This week, PSEA joined seven other associations representing school boards, administrators, principals, and others to send a letter to Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators, encouraging them to support a bill that includes $175 billion in this emergency aid. Read the letter.
Add your name to thousands of educators who have sent emails to the U.S. Senate about this.
"In public education, planning is essential. And our schools need to begin that planning now.
"That’s why I sent Gov. Wolf and Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera a letter today, encouraging them to direct schools to start planning for what online-only instruction will look like if we need to go that route. "
The COVID-19 emergency bill that the General Assembly approved on March 25 also includes the evaluation reform plan PSEA has been working with lawmakers to pass for the past nine months.
The reform plan will overhaul the current educator evaluation system, significantly reducing the impact of student performance, including standardized tests, in favor of classroom observation and practice.
It will:
Our schools and communities are all focused on preventing the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. Federal and state officials have created a number of resources aimed at advising schools on reopening.
The Department of Human Services (DHS) has launched the statewide Support & Referral Helpline staffed by skilled and compassionate caseworkers who will be available 24/7 to counsel Pennsylvanians struggling with anxiety and other challenging emotions due to the COVID-19 emergency and refer them to community-based resources that can further help to meet individual needs.
Consistent with Gov. Wolf’s advice, many in-person PSEA events and meetings will be postponed or moved to remote format. Please watch for announcements if you have already RSVP’d for an event.
In addition, all PSEA offices will also be closed beginning Monday, March 16, at 5 p.m. Staff members will work from home and still be available to assist members via cell phone and email. You can reach them at the same phone numbers. Like many other organizations, PSEA and NEA have decided to cancel or postpone certain meetings, conferences, and events out of an abundance of caution in order to guard against the spread of coronavirus.
As medical professionals and government officials have pointed out, avoiding large gatherings is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of coronavirus. So, canceling or postponing certain PSEA and NEA events is a judicious decision and is consistent with this good advice.