Warwick elementary school to close Friday due to COVID-19 outbreak

An elementary school in the Warwick School District is suspending in-person instruction Friday due to a COVID-19 outbreak, district administrators said in a letter to families Thursday.

Warwick has reported 15 active cases of COVID-19 and 74 people in quarantine at the 530-student Kissel Hill Elementary School. Students at the school are expected to return in-person Monday, unless additional cases are reported over the weekend, the letter states.

Custodians will do a deep cleaning of the entire school, the letter states.

“We understand the impact this has on families and appreciate your flexibility as we deal with this outbreak,” the administration said.

The closure comes just days after administrators notified parents of increased case counts this year versus last year. In a letter to families on Monday, they said the school district has had 82 cumulative COVID-19 cases so far this school year. At the end of September, 2020, the cumulative case count was just four.

Like other Lancaster County school districts, Warwick recently began strictly enforcing the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s school mask order.

Students who refused to wear a mask were taken to the office or conference room while the school contacted their family, Thursday’s letter states. Children and Youth Services were called as a last resort – “when parents are repeatedly unreachable or refuse to pick up their child in a reasonable timeframe,” according to the letter.

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Crédito: ALEX GELI | Staff Writer