On April 9, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in recognition of the significance that health care experts have placed on social distancing to help curtail the spread of the virus, Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera announced that all schools in Pennsylvania will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. This decision has directly impacted thousands of students throughout Pennsylvania attending public K-12 schools, public charter schools (both cyber and brick-and-mortar), career and technical centers, intermediate units, early learning programs, and private and parochial schools.

With no immediate signs that the spread of COVID-19 was subsiding, schools to various degrees had been anticipating and planning for several weeks for the seemingly inevitable announcement that finally came on April 9. A number of schools were developing plans to transition to a remote or distance learning platform. Also, Act 13 of 2020, which amended the Pennsylvania Public School Code and was signed into law by Wolf on March 27,  required all public school entities (including K-12 public school districts, public charter schools, career and technical centers and intermediate units) to submit continuity of education plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) by April 17. Private and parochial schools were not required to submit continuity of education plans, although PDE advised these schools to reach out directly to students’ home school entities for guidance.

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