Pittsburg Community Schools to close due to staffing shortage

Pittbsurg Community Schools are facing a staffing shortage due to sickness around the district. They are canceling class Thursday and Friday. Read the letter sent to parents below:

“Dragon Families,

I am sure that the situation with COVID that we have in our community and in our schools has not escaped anyones attention. The school district has been following the guidelines set by KDHE and Crawford County Health Department to help keep schools in operation and provide an opportunity for students to stay in school. At our testing center we have experienced long lines, with long wait times due to the limited number of staff that can administer the test and the time it takes for each test process. It has become a nearly unmanageable task to test, inform and keep track of all of the multiple individuals and the scenarios for each one. Yet we have worked hard to try to keep our doors open to provide an education for our students.

Today we reached a critical juncture. We have a high number of staff (teachers, paraprofessionals and classified staff members) who are positive or are in quarantine. At this rate, we will not have enough staff and substitutes to adequately staff our buildings to keep the schools in operation at the level of care that we need to provide.

I have made the decision to cancel school for Thursday and Friday 01/13/2022 and 01/14/2022. We will not be requiring the students to engage in school work in an online format during the cancellation. This will provide us with a five (5) day period to help our positive students and staff recover and diminish the chance of person to person transmission in our school buildings. As a reminder, we do not have school on Monday as it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

This decision is primarily based on the district’s ability to adequately staff and supervise our students in our regular classroom settings. Because of this, extra-curricular activities that are able will resume as scheduled. Persons attending extra-curricular activities will be asked to wear masks while in our facilities to help mitigate the spread of Covid due to its high transmissibility.

Students who will participate in extra-curricular activities will need to continue to Test to Play (if already in the Testing Program) to be eligible for participation. Our testing center will remain open during the regular hours during the next 2 days only for those in extra-curricular activities, but will be closed on Monday.

Those persons who are currently in the Test to Stay program for school attendance will continue with that protocol when returning on Tuesday 01/18/2022. Please remember that the next five (5) days count toward the 10 day Test to Stay period.

Building offices will remain open during the next two (days). Building Mask Status notifications for next week will be sent by noon on Sunday, 1/16/22.

I know that this has been a very difficult time for many of you. We have tried to do our best to follow recommendations from our state and local health officials while continuing to provide a safe and healthy environment for all. We thank you for your patience while we work through this extraordinary time.

Sincerely, Mr. Richard Proffitt,

Superintendent of Schools”