Sentinel photo by BRIAN COX
A decal on the walkway in front of the entrance to Mifflin County High School reminds students to remain at least six feet apart while a sign on the door warns people with symptoms of illness to avoid entering the facility. MCHS is the latest Mifflin County School District building forced to temporarily close due to having too many COVID-19 positive tests within it. On Monday, MCHS joined Strodes Mills Elementary School and Mifflin County Junior High School as schools forced to shutter for a few days just this week. The Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology also had to temporarily close this week due to COVID cases among students and staff.
Jan 15, 2021
As much as we’d all like for the COVID-19 pandemic to be but a memory, the fact is, despite the development and distribution of vaccines, it will still be a considerable amount of time before life returns to anything resembling what it was in February 2020.
That applies to our schools as well. Even as he announced the return to in-person classes a couple weeks ago, Mifflin County School District Superintendent James Estep presciently warned that short-notice closures of specific buildings, or even the entire school district, will likely be necessary as COVID case counts continue to climb.
Less than a week into the return of in-person instruction from two months of remote learning, the district announced Thursday the first building that had to be temporarily shuttered due to positive COVID cases within the school Strodes Mills Elementary.
From staff reports
STRODES MILLS Mifflin County School District announced Thursday it will close Strodes Mills Elementary School through Tuesday due to a second positive COVID-19 test result among its students.
MCSD said the closure is recommended under guidelines from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The district said it tenatively planned to reopen SMES for in-person instruction Wednesday and the school building would receive extra cleaning during the closure.
Mifflin County students already had Friday and Monday as scheduled off days. SMES students will learn remotely on Tuesday, the district said.
All other MCSD buildings remain open as normal.
NEWSLETTER