Pittsburgh Grandview PreK-5 transitions to remote learning due to COVID-related staffing shortage

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Grandview PreK-5 will transition to remote learning for the rest of the week due to a COVID-related staffing shortage.

A news release from the school district said students will participate in asynchronous remote instruction starting Wednesday. Students will need to access Schoology to complete work independently at home. Thursday and Friday will be synchronous remote instruction days, where teachers will provide live instruction over Microsoft Teams.

“There’s the fatigue of ‘Oh my God, we’ve been dealing with this, it’s just part of life.’ But it’s a real infection that can cause really severe problems,” said Dr. Todd Wolynn of Kids Plus Pediatrics. “Here you have something that can spread. One teacher can infect ten other teachers, and if you have multiple teachers out, that’s a problem.”

Channel 11 asked Wolynn what parents need to keep in mind now that it’s been three years since the start of the pandemic.

“Let’s not forget, the CDC guidelines haven’t really changed. Even if you have mild symptoms, if you test positive, you’re supposed to be not in contact with other people for five days, and mask when you’re around anybody else for the next five days,” Wolynn said.

Parents who weren’t available to talk on camera said they have contingency plans in place and weren’t inconvenienced too much by the situation.

“I think people are willing to roll with it, but recognize — if you’re a single parent or if you have two caregivers in the house and they both work, it’s still a hardship,” Wolynn said.

The school will reopen on Monday, March 20.

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