Update, 12/17: Prince George’s County Public Schools told parents in an email Friday that all students would transition to virtual learning through at least January 14 following a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases around the region.

The school district’s semester is set to end Dec. 23, before students depart for winter break, which lasts through the end of the year. The spring semester will begin virtually, and students will return to campuses on Jan. 18. Staff, meanwhile, will continue to work from campuses during virtual learning.

“Educators, administrators and support staff must be able to deliver in-person instruction and other activities in conditions that prioritize their own health, as well as the wellbeing of the school community,” PGCPS CEO Monica Goldson wrote. “The increased positivity rates have significantly challenged the ability to do so, causing anxiety among many school communities and disruption to the school day.”

Original:

At least four public schools in the Washington region are moving students to virtual instruction after a spike in COVID-19 cases on campuses. 

D.C. Public Schools officials said Wednesday that students at Whittier Elementary School in Manor Park will not return to physical classrooms until after the new year. 

Meanwhile students at three schools in Prince George’s County Public Schools – Benjamin Tasker Middle School, EXCEL Academy Public Charter School, and Kettering Middle School – will also learn virtually until Jan. 3. 

Monica Goldson, CEO of Prince George’s County Public Schools, said she is alarmed by the sharp rise in cases across the school system, the second largest in Maryland. The surge is affecting the system’s ability to deliver instruction. 

“We urgently need your help outside the school day to help keep everyone protected,” Goldson said in a letter to parents. “I urge you to take every precaution to stay safe from COVID-19.” 

More than 150 cases were reported across the school system on a single day this week, she said. It’s not clear how many of those cases were identified at the campuses that were forced to close Wednesday. 

In the District, Tiffany Johnson, the principal at Whittier Elementary, notified families that students would learn virtually through Dec. 22, the day before winter break. The campus will not reopen until Jan. 3, when students are scheduled to return from break.

Fourteen COVID-19 cases have been reported at Whittier since Thursday, forcing many students into quarantine and creating staffing issues, Johnson said.

“I know that this is disappointing news as we approach winter break and the holiday season, but the well-being of our community is our top priority,” the principal said.

Some D.C. schools have had to quarantine entire classes or grade levels because of coronavirus cases. But Whittier is the first DCPS campus to transition all of its students to virtual learning this academic year.

D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee said in an interview that the school system decided to temporarily close Whittier because several of the positive cases involved school workers, leaving the campus severely understaffed. The school system is not using any specific metric to determine when campuses should close, he added.

“We intend to operate fully until we can’t,” Ferebee said. “This was a scenario in which staffing was impacted at the level where we could not continue to operate with the same goals for our learning environment.”

Ferebee said there are no plans to close any other campuses in the 50,000-student system.

“We’re monitoring across the district,” he said. “There’s no other schools to report at this time where we need to be talking about those transitions.”

COVID-19 cases have steadily increased across the Washington region since Thanksgiving. The daily average of positive cases in the District on Wednesday was 201, nearly three times the average from two weeks earlier.

More cases have also been identified in D.C. Public Schools in recent weeks. Nearly 1,800 students in the school system were in quarantine as of Monday because they were in close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

Staff and students can avoid quarantine if they are vaccinated and are not showing symptoms of illness. But less than half of 12 to 17-year-olds in the District are fully vaccinated against the virus, according to data from D.C. Health.

This story was updated to include comments from DCPS Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee, and with news that all Prince George’s County Public Schools will extend virtual learning. Dominique Maria Bonessi contributed reporting.