Radnor Twp. SD Returns To Hybrid School With Improving COVID Data

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, PA — Delaware County remains in the "red zone," at substantial risk for the spread of COVID-19, but Radnor Township School District's two key measures showed a downward trend over four weeks as the district went back to hybrid instruction on Monday.

The incidence rate per 100,00o residents in Delaware County is 267.9, down from the previous week's measure of 306 per 100,000, but still more than double the 100 per 100,00 that the Pennsylvania Department of Health considers the "orange zone" and safe for hybrid instruction.

The percent positivity rate in Delco was 12.3 at the Jan. 1 data count, up from 12.0 percent the week before. The state considers 10 percent positivity to be the highest percentage under which hybrid instruction is safe.

But the incidence rate and the number of positive tests for COVID-19 has gone down each of the last four weeks for Radnor Township School District, according to the data sheet released by Chester County.

In the most recently reported count of positive cases, RTSD had 46 positive cases the week ending Dec. 28, and in the week before had 50, the week before that 62, and the week before that 65. So, each of the four weeks saw fewer cases of COVID-19, and over four weeks cases were down by 19.

The incidence rate also dropped in each of the last four weeks in Radnor Township School District. In the week ending Dec. 28 it was reported at 145.06 per 100,000 residents. The week just before that one the incidence rate was 157.68, the week before that 195.52, and the week before that it was 204.98 per 100,000 residents, according to the Chester County Health Department School District Report.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kenneth E. Batchelor announced the return on Jan. 4 to hybrid instruction at all levels, K-12.

"While the new year brings hope, we must resolve to recommit and continue the protocols that have allowed us to remain open for many weeks for in-person instruction," Batchelor reminded parents.

Those protocols include:

• Everyone must continue to mask at all times when in district buildings.
• Everyone must continue to stay home and rest if not feeling well.
• Everyone must return to the routine of completing the self-screening survey before coming to school every day.
• Everyone must respect the travel orders still in effect in Pennsylvania.

"Our community of students, staff, and families has collectively done an incredible job of adhering to our protocols allowing us to remain open in hybrid. However, we must continue to mask, comply with required quarantines and testing, social distance, and stay home when we aren't feeling well so we can keep our schools open for in-person instruction," Batchelor said.

Back in November, COVID-19 metrics were not as high as they were in other parts of the county, also. The incidence rate in Delaware County on Nov. 6 was 150, up from 133 the previous week, with a positivity rate of 7.6 percent, up from 6.8 percent in the previous week.

But at that time, Radnor Township's incidence rate was much lower, at 41. The township's numbers nearly caught up during the holiday surge of cases all around the state, and while all but one Pennsylvania County is now in the "red zone" of substantial COVID-19 risk, Radnor Township School District joins others in a return to the hybrid teaching model that brings fewer students into the classroom on a given day.

Pennsylvania Department of Education and Department of Health have stated their guidelines are "recommendations, not a mandate, [and] each School District should continue to review their data and make the best decisions for their students, staff, and community."