Saturday, January 15, 2022

Greetings PPS Families:

Happy New Year, and I hope all are well. It is safe to say that 2022 has begun with its unique challenges. Like many school districts across our region and state, Pittsburgh Public Schools has felt the impact of the coronavirus surge due to the Omicron variant. With many families wondering if and when their child's school will be removed or added to our Rolling Building Closure list, we understand there are questions regarding our decision-making process. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that opening our District doors was just the beginning of a long road ahead. Maintaining the health and safety of our students and staff remains our top priority. Our mitigation strategies of universal masking, physical distancing, vaccinations, and COVID-19 testing are in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 and disruptions to in-person learning. Thank you for the steps you have taken to keep our school communities healthy. Your efforts to keep students home when they are ill and ensure students stay up to date on their vaccinations significantly support our mitigation strategies. 

I want you to know we think about you – our families – in every decision we make. We know that September 2021 was the first time many students entered a classroom after more than a year of remote learning. We also know that families are just as concerned as we are about the unfinished learning students must recover after so much time away from the classroom. We remain committed to our mission of "…preparing all children to achieve academic excellence and strength of character, so that they have the opportunity to succeed in all aspects of life." We believe that each day a student is in school in person better supports attaining this mission. For this reason, we remain committed to keeping schools open five days a week safely. 

Building Closure Guidelines

We understand that there are many questions regarding our approach to school closures within the context of the pandemic. While we know sudden school closures place a burden on staff and families, our commitment to keeping students in school drives our approach. Using guidance shared by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania Department of Education, our Building Closure Guidelines consider 5% of the total enrollment of students/staff confirmed cases in a 14-day window for outbreak containment or outbreaks in three simultaneous classrooms/or core groups. Additional considerations include staffing shortages caused by positive cases, quarantines, and other staff absences, sharing of staff between facilities, or sharing of facilities between schools.

Rolling Building Closure Approach

During mid-afternoon each day, I meet with our Assistant Superintendents, Chief Operations Officer, and other staff to conduct a school-by-school building closure eligibility review. We reach out to school leaders and review call-off data in our Frontline absence management system to inform staffing-related closure decisions using our data examination tools. Even with these efforts, there are times when there is not enough staff to open a building for in-person instruction.

Once we finalize the list of schools for each day, we will implement our new stakeholder communications protocol. We focus first on ensuring our internal stakeholders are informed before broader public audiences. Communications about our decision for the day are shared first with our Board of School Directors then the school leaders who are directly impacted. Our school leaders then share communications with their staff and families. Afterward, it is then shared in a news release, first distributed broadly across PPS and then with media. The communication is then added to our District website and social media channels. This process occurs Monday-Friday and on the weekend to communicate to families about the following day.

While we aim to complete this process by 6:30 p.m. each day, we must meet the varying communications needs of each school to ensure our families directly impacted have the accurate information they need. If school-based staff members cannot communicate potential absences with school leaders or utilize our call-off system before mid-afternoon, our communications may be delayed. I cannot thank our principals enough for their time and commitment. From checking each absence in their school, rearranging schedules to provide coverage, and even covering classrooms, they are doing all they can to keep our school doors open and limit disruptions for students and families. And a special thanks to our teachers for having the backs of their colleagues to meet the needs of our students in-person and remotely.

Again, we realize school closures are an inconvenience for families. At this juncture, we offer the Allegheny Childcare Tool to help families find childcare during the pandemic in the event of school closures and delays.

COVID-19 Dashboard

In addition to factors for staffing, we take into consideration 5% of the total enrollment of students/staff confirmed cases in a 14-day window for outbreak containment. We capture these numbers on the District's COVID-19 Dashboard. Our COVID-19 Dashboard only summarizes positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff physically inside our buildings during a 14-day rolling period. The Dashboard does not include all positive cases and exposures impacting staff or students that may require isolation or quarantine. The COVID-19 Response Team has processed more than 3,000 reports of COVID-19 positive cases and exposures since schools opened following the winter break. With so many reports coming in related to the impact of COVID-19 on staff and families, coupled with building closures due to staff absences, it is understandable why there was some confusion related to the Dashboard.

Following feedback from staff and families, we have updated the COVID-19 Dashboard to outline its purpose explicitly and replaced the open/closed status with each school's 5% threshold. We have also added the data entry date and definitions for each data point to the page. Again, the COVID-19 Dashboard is only one decision point for school closures. Please know that your feedback is appreciated as we aim to deliver open and transparent communications.

New CDC Guidance

We are consistently tracking changes to COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In consultation with the Allegheny County Health Department and the PA Department of Health, our District physician has reviewed the new direction and has made revisions to our Decision Tree that align to updated guidance. The new Decision Tree will be shared soon. We will monitor the implementation of this latest guidance and adjust our practice accordingly.

Masking

As the CDC weighs potential changes to its recommendations on masks, we assessed the inventory of our current supply to support our universal indoor masking protocol. Currently, the District has some of the recommended N95 masks, surgical masks, and three-ply cloths masks. We have begun distributing N95 masks to our staff who work with our youngest students, a vulnerable population whose vaccinations have been largely unavailable. Additionally, we will distribute our surplus to schools and offices to support our students. As we continue to support our universal indoor masking protocol, we are consistently replenishing supplies for schools and offices as needed.

Up to Date Vaccinations

The recent emergence of the Omicron variant highlights the importance of vaccination and boosters to prevent severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. Everyone ages 5 and up can get vaccinated against COVID-19. The CDC recommends people remain "up to date" with their vaccines, including additional doses for individuals who are immunocompromised or booster doses at regular time points. Individuals may receive a booster five months after their Pfizer or Moderna shot or two months after their initial Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Thank you to all families who attended last week's Vaccination Blitz in partnership with UPMC. We plan to continually offer vaccination clinics for our students, staff, and families. To find information about upcoming clinics, visit www.pghschools.org/backandvaxxed.

I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to our families for your continued patience and support. We are here to serve you, and I do not take this responsibility lightly. I understand that the decisions we are making affect your lives daily. As we celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, I offer one of his quotes applicable to this moment. “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” I know we will get through this period of disruptions together. You are truly appreciated. You are PPS!

Respectfully,

Dr. Wayne N. Walters

Interim Superintendent, Pittsburgh Public Schools