Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered K-12 school buildings to remain closed through an indefinite period of time as part of the commonwealth’s ongoing efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The governor made this announcement on Monday afternoon along with announcing stay-at-home orders extended now though April 30 to four more counties – Cumberland, Dauphin, Carbon and Schuylkill counties– in addition to the 22 previously under such orders. Wolf’s school closure order extends the one he issued last week that indicated schools would remain closed through at least April 6.

In the meantime, schools are required through an emergency school law enacted on Friday in response to the COVID-19 outbreak to make a good faith effort to resume education for students through alternate means although the state’s 180-day school year mandate was waived.

Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of PA and a former Shippensburg Area School Board member, said, “The emergency school code legislation that was signed into law last week provides clarity and certainty for Pennsylvania’s educational system. Today’s announcement that the closures will be extended indefinitely allows school leaders and educators to make long term plans to ensure the continuity of education for students. While some well-funded school districts will seamlessly pivot to online education, under-resourced districts and districts in areas where families have limited access to high speed internet will face many challenges as they work to meet students’ needs.”

Several schools started up their distance education programs on Monday although many teachers had been sending out enrichment lessons to students to maintain a continuity of education for days prior to that.

Monday was the first day of distance learning at West Shore School District.

On behalf of the school board, administration, and our entire staff…have a great first day of Distance Learning! Moms, dads, caregivers, and all who are doing their best for the children of our District, we are here to support you. We are in this together! #WestShoreProud pic.twitter.com/siWISrrL4U — West Shore S.D. (@WestShoreSD) March 30, 2020

Middletown Area School District plan to issue iPads to all elementary students this week. Its older students already have school-issued devices at home. But the district said teachers will not be grading assignments, at least for another week. Central Dauphin School District has loaned laptops to students who didn’t have access to one and indicated on the district’s website, it plans to begin rolling out classes next week.

As Spicka indicated, some districts have not been able to resume classes remotely.

About that, Wolf said, "We are working on a plan to make sure we have a way to provide an education for the kids who are not getting an education for the next two months. The hope is we have that in place in the next few days ... so by the time we start next week, we will have an alternative to the brick and mortar schools there now.”

School buildings have been closed since March 16 over COVID-19 concerns.

Many colleges and universities across the state have made the decision to switch to fully online classes for the rest of the spring semester, including the 14 state universities, Penn State, Pitt and Temple universities.

* This story was updated to include Education Voters of PA executive director Susan Spicka’s comment.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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