New, Relaxed Coronavirus Guidelines Issued For Delco Schools

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Updated guidance went out to school superintendents in Delaware County on Friday, relaxing wording in 6-feet distance standards, drawing a hard line that says 3-feet of distance must be kept at all times.

Guidance from the Chester County Health Department — which is overseeing Delaware County's health needs while the county establishes its own health department — update also underscored the CDC's guidance that vaccination access should not be a factor in school district decisions about reopening for in-person instruction.

Health officials advised school districts that when the incidence rate is below 100 per 100,000 residents and percent positive of cases is below 10 percent, distancing of 6 feet is "recommended to the greatest extent possible," and "at no time is less than 3 feet permitted."

If these two metrics rise above those marks, 6 feet of distance will still be "strongly recommended" for students and required for staff interactions with students and other staff.

The guidance notes that "physical distancing assumes school district is implementing COVID screening testing. Transient interactions of less than 3 feet, such as passing in the hallway, handing in papers to the teacher, etc. are unavoidable."

Delaware County's positivity rate is well below the 10 percent line that separates high transmission levels from very high levels.

The most recent Pennsylvania Department of Health report showed the positivity rate for tests dropped from 7.2 percent to 6 percent in the week ending Feb. 19 in Delaware County.

Delaware County's incidence rate is near the border of high and very high, but has been dropping steadily for weeks. The incidence rate fell in the last week, from 144.3 to 109.6 per 100,000 residents.

The DOH report showed a continuing downward trend in all coronavirus metrics in Delaware County.

"The Chester County Health Department recognizes and supports the urgent need to reopen schools as in-person learning is vital for our children in all grade levels," Chester County officials said in a statement Friday. "Because of the layered mitigation measures you have successfully implemented, we support schools increasing more in-person learning through reduced physical distancing. Specifically, when certain Community Transmission Levels are met and layered mitigation strategies are continued, schools are encouraged to reduce physical distancing as outlined (above)."

The health department said the change is further supported by and closely aligns with the CDC's recently released "Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Mitigation."

The message to superintendents noted that "the CDC's strategy clearly states that access to vaccination should not be considered a condition for reopening schools for in-person instruction."

The Pennsylvania State Teachers Association on Feb. 10 asked Chester County's commissioners and Department of Health director and members of the Delaware County Council to "refuse any requests by county schools to waive current social distancing rules and overcrowd classrooms during a pandemic."

"Six feet of social distance is now the norm in Pennsylvania," PSEA President Rich Askey wrote to Delaware and Chester county officials." To permit anything less in school buildings will put students, teachers, support professionals, and their families at unnecessary risk of contracting COVID-19 and increase the likelihood that they will spread the virus to others."

"The educators and support professionals I represent want to teach and serve their students. Their commitment to the counties' children is nothing short of extraordinary," Askey said. "But, where schools are holding in-person instruction, our members want to be certain that the mitigation protocols in place will keep them safe and healthy."

The updated guidance keeps in effect all existing layered mitigation measures. However it adds some mitigation measures, advising school districts to:

• engage with families to ensure such a change does not negatively impact families (i.e., more families choose to remain remote with less than six feet),
• implement a COVID-19 screening testing plan that has been reviewed by the Health Department; educate and promote participation in the screening testing,
• educate and promote vaccination as an extra layer of safety for individuals and the school community overall, and
• ensure learning options remain in place for families who choose not to return to in-person learning with less than 6 feet physical distancing.