OLIVESBURG — The Crestview Local school district has transitioned to remote learning due to a rise in cases in the community, superintendent Randy Dunlap announced Saturday.
The district had its first day of remote learning Tuesday and is set to resume in-person classes Jan. 4.
“Over the last couple weeks we’ve seen an increase of positive cases not just in our schools, but in the community,” Dunlap said.
As of Nov. 30, Crestview had five staff members and two students test positive for COVID-19, but the greatest strain on the district has been staffing shortages that occur due to quarantine requirements.
Dunlap said there were nearly 200 students who did not report on Nov. 24, the last day of classes before Thanksgiving break. Some were home due to individual quarantines or flu-like symptoms, but there were also entire classrooms that had transitioned to remote learning.
“Those students were out due to staff being quarantined and our first-grade classrooms being closed for the week. One classroom was under a quarantine but the other three were remote learning. Our grade level instructors were under a quarantine due to exposure to a positive case,” he said.
There were also nearly 20 staff members who could not report due to a positive COVID-19 case, a quarantine or lack of child care due to a quarantined child. Dunlap said the district has about 130 employees total, including custodial and classified staff.
“We reached a situation where we could not cover the classes adequately … without taxing our instructional people,” Dunlap said.
“Closing all our school buildings to in-person learning for the second time this year has been one of the most painful actions I have had to take as Superintendent,” he stated in a letter to families. “I know it’s disappointing for all of those students who were thrilled to be back in classrooms learning face-to-face with their teachers and classmates.
“It is equally hard on adults, who have been forced to make more adjustments to their schedules and lives. Please note that this is a temporary closure, and school buildings will reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Dunlap added that information regarding building-specific practices, special programming and services, end of course assessments and extracurricular activities will be shared soon by building administrators.
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