Kiski Area High School reopens, district introduces online covid tracker

Kiski Area High School reopened Monday after a week-long closure, allowing students to attend class in person for up to four days a week. Students had moved online last week after seven cases of covid-19 were reported among students and staff.

The school district had just reported two new cases Friday – an additional student at the high school and a staff member at Kiski Area South Primary School – bringing the district-wide total to 24.

Both schools remain open, with no evidence of transmission within the school building. According to a letter to district families, the state Department of Health has been contacted and health officials are identifying close contacts.

“It is important to consider if cases are community transmitted or school transmitted and if the positive covid-19 individuals were in the building while they were contagious,” the letter reads – a statement repeated in many of the district’s correspondence as of late.

Additionally, the letter announced, the district will begin providing daily covid-19 updates through its website. The webpage labeled “Covid-19 Tracker” shows a chart tracking student and staff cases at each district school, and distinguishes them as “active” and “inactive” cases. According to the tracker, the district has had 13 cases that are now inactive, along with 11 cases that are currently active.

As of Friday, the high school has reported the most covid-19 cases, with a total of nine students and six staff members since the beginning of the school year. All of the district’s schools except for East Primary have reported at least one infection.

The tracker is to be updated at the close of every business day.