FACTORYVILLE, Pa. — Students in the Lackawanna Trail School District in Wyoming County were only back in class for two days before more than a dozen of them had to switch to online learning. A teacher there tested positive for coronavirus.
The first day of classes in the Lackawanna Trail School District was last Thursday.
The teacher who tested positive got a rapid test done on Sunday after she learned she had been in contact with someone who had also tested positive.
Students, parents, and school district officials say it was inevitable.
The Lackawanna Trail School District is one of the only districts in our area to offer students the option to attend all of their classes in person.
When an elementary school teacher tested positive for COVID-19, it did not come as a shock.
"We did indeed expect that things like this could happen, and we have an incredibly thorough plan. Here it is, 20 after 10 in the morning, and it's business as usual," said Lackawanna Trail Superintendent Matthew Rakauskas.
The 14 students who were in the classroom with that teacher last week are now in quarantine. Per the Department of Health, they do not have to get tested unless they develop symptoms.
Those 14 students are now taking virtual classes during the two weeks they have to quarantine, which is an option for any student in the district.
About 200 students, of about 1,000 in the entire district, had already chosen to start the semester doing all online learning, which was a factor in the district's decision to reopen the school for in-person classes.
"With 200 fewer students in the school, we could do a lot better job social distancing and doing the things we do to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Rakauskas said.
Colin Dempsey has a second grader at Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center. He was pleased with the school district's response.
"It's going to happen at some point or another, which is OK, but I was more concerned that they reacted quickly, which they did," said Dempsey.
A little more than a dozen parents decided to switch to online classes after learning of the positive case.
Dempsey is glad the district didn't force everyone to do that and is leaving it up to parents.
"If you look at it, as long as people are quarantined and doing what they're supposed to do, I think it's just overreacting if you're taking your kids out of the school already. But for the same reason, if someone's able to do it, if that's what someone feels comfortable with, I think that's fine."
Both school buildings were already sanitized thoroughly on Friday as part of the district's health and safety plan, but the classroom of the teacher who tested positive was cleaned once again on Sunday. No one will be in that classroom for the next two weeks.