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DALLAS TWP. &mdash; Dallas School District has reported three confirmed cases of COVID-19, including a new announcement Wednesday afternoon on the district website, prompting the administration to postpone all after-school activities Wednesday and to move to remote-only learning for Thursday.
				&ldquo;Students will not physically report to campus on Sept. 17, 2020,&rdquo; The notice, posted at 2:30 p.m., said. &ldquo;all students will participate online tomorrow, Sept. 17, 2020.&rdquo;
				Superintendent Tom Duffy said all three cases were students, one in the Middle School and two in the Intermediate School. He said the district will evaluate the situation Thursday to determine how to move forward Friday, both in academics and athletics. Along with cleaning the rooms involved, the district has called in a third party contracted to advise the district on further safety actions.
				The district is working with the state on contact tracing to see if anyone was in close contact with the three students who tested positive.
				The district first posted a notice about new cases Monday afternoon announcing &ldquo;that a member of our school community had been diagnosed with COVID-19. The notice listed the steps taken as a result:
				&#8226; The district contacted the state Rapid Response Center established to direct schools and coordinate efforts with the Department of Health, Department of Education and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
				&#8226; The district continued contact with the impacted individual, who was quarantined and has not been on campus since Sept 8. The district worked with state and local agencies to assist in contact tracing. Some individuals already known to have &ldquo;close contact&rdquo; have undergone testing.
				&#8226; In accordance with the Dallas School District Health and Safety Plan and guidance from the Department of Education, Dallas School District utilized services from Ameristar Facility Solutions and our internal team to provide additional cleaning and sanitation of the district school buildings.
				A second case was reported Sunday and the process was repeated. Because contact tracing could not be completed as of Sunday night, the district went online-only Monday. The third case was announced in the Wednesday posting
				To help in contact tracing, the district&rsquo;s earlier posting included a reminder that the families are to use the district&rsquo;s daily screening tool every morning, and that the third question is &ldquo;Indicate if you have had &lsquo;Close Contact&rsquo; within the past 14 days with someone who is currently sick with suspected or confirmed COVID-19? (Note: Close contact is defined as within 6 feet for more than 15 consecutive minutes, with or without PPE equipment).&rdquo;
				&ldquo;It is critical that the screening tool is used,&rdquo; the notice read in bold print, &ldquo;and those who answer &lsquo;Yes&rsquo; to any questions should stay home. All stakeholders who answer &lsquo;yes&rsquo; will be contacted by district stakeholders.&rdquo;
				Dallas School Board had originally voted to start school with all students who wanted to attend in person allowed to do so. After more detailed guidance was issued by the state, the administration recommended, and the board approved, a switch to hybrid model with two groups of students. Group A attends Monday and Tuesday in person while Group B attends live at home online, all learn remotely Wednesday, and the two groups switch Thursday and Friday.

Dallas School District reports cases of COVID-19, Goes online-only for Thursday