This file photo shows the Pennsylvania Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pa.
AP file photo
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Pa. reopening guidance could change schools’ plans
HARRISBURG — Many Pennsylvania school districts are planning a full return to the classroom this fall, according to data released Monday by the state Department of Education, though that could change after state health and education officials issued new reopening guidance last week.
Some 657 school districts, public charter schools and career and technical centers have submitted their reopening plans to the state, and 35%, or about 230, have indicated they plan to bring students back to class five days a week, the Education Department said.
About a quarter plan to start the year virtually, while more than 40% plan to offer a combination of remote and in-person instruction.
Some of the districts’ plans were submitted before the Wolf administration issued its latest reopening guidance, which says full, in-person instruction should be reserved for students in counties with a very low rate of new COVID-19 cases.
Some districts have already changed their reopening plans in response to the guidance, and others are expected to follow suit before the start of the school year, education officials said.
“This is going to be very fluid, and what districts think they’re going to do may look a lot different two weeks into the future based on transmission rates,” said Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.
State issues mask order for nursing homes, others
HARRISBURG — The state on Monday ordered nursing homes and other facilities for older adults to supply N95 respirator masks to staff who directly care for residents with COVID-19, or who are suspecting of having the virus.
Nursing home staff have long complained about rationing of personal protective equipment.
“Many long-term care facilities have been working diligently to protect their staff from this virus. We have also heard from nurses and staff from across the state, and this order responds directly to their safety concerns,” Dr. Rachel Levine, the state health secretary, said in a written statement.
The virus has taken a dreadful toll on Pennsylvania nursing and personal care homes, with more than 5,000 deaths — or two-thirds of the statewide toll.
Pa. aims to move election fight to state high court
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is asking the state’s highest court to use its extraordinary authority to take over another election-related lawsuit with critical questions that it says must be settled as soon as possible in a partisan fight between Democrats and Republicans in the presidential battleground state.
In a Sunday night filing, state lawyers asked the state Supreme Court to take over a case filed last month by the state Democratic Party and currently pending in a lower court.
The defendant is the top election official for Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.
In many ways, the Democratic Party’s lawsuit is asking state courts to rule the opposite of what President Donald Trump’s campaign and the national Republican Party are seeking in federal court in Pittsburgh.
“These issues are unquestionably of immediate public importance,” the state attorney general’s office wrote in its 60-page filing. “Both voters and election officials need clarity on these critical election issues as soon as possible.”
The state’s filing came three days after Wolf’s administration, citing a warning by the U.S. Postal Service about its delivery times, asked the court to extend deadlines for mail-in ballots to be received in the November election.
This lawsuit also asks the court to allow the use of drop boxes and uphold the requirement in state law that poll watchers be registered voters from the county.
— Associated Press