South Eastern School District going virtual to avoid potential COVID-19 staffing issue

South Eastern School District is going completely virtual when classes resume after the Thanksgiving break.

It's just for four days, Superintendent Nathan Van Deusen said Tuesday in a letter to parents. The decision to go virtual from Dec. 1 to 4 isn't because of increased COVID-19 cases, but because of potential staffing issues.

"In addition to the mandates that were communicated by the governor yesterday, other restrictions, such as travel-based quarantining, along with quarantining for COVID related exposure will leave the district short-staffed after the Thanksgiving break," Van Deusen wrote. "These four days will allow both students and staff the time needed to comply with travel and quarantine restrictions, prior to resuming in-person instruction."

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Students will return to their preferred method of learning (brick and mortar, hybrid or virtual) beginning Dec. 8.

As for the new mandates from Gov. Tom Wolf that create more restrictions on in-person learning, Van Deusen believes the school district can "follow the mandates and safely continue to provide a high-quality education in each of our learning platforms."

Shelly Stallsmith is a trends reporter for the York Daily Record. She can be reached at mstallsmith@ydr.com or followed on Twitter at @ShelStallsmith.