I just received notification from the T/E School District with the following letter from Dr. Gusick, the District’s Superintendent — All T/E Schools are closed starting tomorrow Friday, March 13 through at least Thursday, March 26. In addition all school related activities are cancelled.
March 12, 2020
Dear T/E Staff and Families,
I am writing to share that all T/E schools will be closed and all school-related activities will be suspended beginning Friday, March 13 through at least Thursday, March 26.
This afternoon Governor Wolf announced that all schools in Montgomery County will be closed for two weeks and he discouraged non-essential travel within Montgomery County. As you know, the communities of Montgomery County border the T/E School District. Approximately 25% of our teaching staff, in addition to many members of our support staff, reside in Montgomery County. To remain in keeping with the spirit of the Governor’s containment action, TESD employees who are residents of Montgomery County should not report to work. As a result, we will be unable to operate our schools with such a limited number of staff. It is now necessary for us to move to the Closing component of our response plan.
Because Chester County is not in the containment area in the Governor’s declaration, we are able to make our schools accessible to students and families on Friday, March 13. Please feel welcome to visit your child’s school tomorrow during normal hours to gather anything you may need. A Child’s Place has informed us that they will email families directly with specifics regarding their program’s operations.
Earlier today, I sent a framework for a distance learning rollout to TESD students. Based on today’s information, we will revisit the timing of distance learning implementation and send a revised plan to staff and families tomorrow. I will be participating in a virtual meeting with the Secretary of Education tomorrow morning, where I hope to learn more information. The impact of this closing on the last day of school will also be shared in a later communication.
Today Governor Wolf also provided guidance for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in response to COVID-19. In his address, he made further statewide recommendations to mitigate the spread of illness:
- Suspending large gatherings, events, conferences of 250 individuals or more, and
- Limiting travel to recreational activities like gyms, movie theaters and shopping malls
If you have concerns about yourself or a member of the TESD community being exposed to COVID-19, please contact your primary healthcare provider. Additionally, the CCHD now has a self-reporting online tool available on their webpage. We have also created a District email account, HealthInfo@tesd.net, to share questions, comments, or concerns related to COVID-19 as it relates to the District. We will need some time as an administrative staff to sort through some of the major questions we expect many of you to have.
These are extraordinary times, and I make this decision after careful consideration of an array of alternatives. I do believe this is the right decision for our District at this time, and I trust that the strength of our community will continue to shine brightly as we manage this crisis together.
Sincerely,
Dr. Richard Gusick
Superintendent of Schools
Well why hasn’t everyone been informed if this is true
The news was out late on Thursday night and posted on the T/E website: https://www.tesd.net/coronavirus. My guess is that the local news will have the news out in the community today but to be clear, this is true and the schools in T/E are closed starting today through at least Thursday, March 26.
The School District informed all students and parents by both telephone and email Thursday night, so I would say they did an excellent job putting out the word.
This just seems strange. There are no known cases in T/E, so the kids are seemingly safe going there. But giving them 2 weeks off where they will undoubtedly be on public transportation, in public places outside of the county where there ARE cases of the virus, when they would otherwise be in school seems like it is counter productive?
What about the support staff.. Will they be paid ?
Very good question and I don’t have an answer. School board directors, if you are reading can you please respond?
At least 25% of the staff lives in Montgomery County, therefore there wasn’t enough people to staff the schools.
Yes but the crossing guards ,cafeteria workers , custodial , aides,
and maintenance. What about them?
The Board did the correct thing here, we just can’t take unnecessary chances and they can hide behind the fact other neighboring districts are doing the same thing (although not all of them).
As for payment of salaries, I would suspect this to be taken care of by the collective bargaining agreement the District has with its employees. If there are employees not part of any CBA, then ultimately the decision to pay will be in the discretion of the District. The right thing to do would be to pay them, but who knows what will happen.
Perhaps they should stay at home then?
Gov. Wolf just announced that ALL Pennsylvania Schools are to close!
I am a sub at Conestoga. On Thursday, the students were given assignments for this coming week and told to reach out to teachers and support staff if they thought that they would have any technological or logistical difficulties doing work from home. So,they not getting two weeks “off”. Some sort of online program will beput in place.
Thanks Mike for the information.