(10/1) As resurgent cases of COVID-19 continue to adversely impact the stability of offering area students in public and parochial schools, and institutions of high learning, safe in-class learning, Fairfield School District still remains virus-free.

As of September 14, the Fairfield Area School District has had no verified cases of coronavirus since the opening of their elementary school, middle school, and high school.

District Superintendent Michael Adamek reported at a September schoolboard meeting that there have been no cases of COVID-19 reported among the student body, although there were several suspect cases which were reported negative.

The district has engaged in a rigorous sanitation program, utilizing available staff, including pressing available food-service personnel into the effort. Not only are the school rooms and other used facilities sanitized, but the school buses as well are cleansed following each run.

Adamek said, "It's nice to see the teamwork all the people (staff) are putting in, and everybody doing it (sanitation) well. I appreciate everything everyone has been doing for that (participating in cleansing)."

Mother Seton School however suffered a short-term closure on September 14 and 15, with a Pre-K 4 classroom shutdown for an additional week thereafter. Students were instructed to engage in remote learning during the shutdown.

Principal Kathleen Kilty noted in an e-mail sent to parents that the cause of the closure was the result of "a member of our community testing positive for COVID-19," but did not provide any other details regarding the member being a student or staff.

Mount Saint' Mary's University placed itself on a "low level" alert in mid-September after 19 students and one employee tested positive for coronavirus. A "low level" status means that a low number of patients have contracted COVID-19 but that the institution has been able to contain it.

The Mount has performed 2,532 COVID-19 tests, of which 0.8 percent tested positive. No changes in student attendance or operations, over and above the routine already implemented at the start of the school year, has been posted as a result of the low-level status.

An increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases at Gettysburg College resulted in the institution implementing what they have termed "de-densification." A statement issued by the college read, "Together with our public health consultants, faculty, and Board of Trustees, the college determined that our best path forward for the remainder of the semester is to de-densify campus by reducing the number of students in residence."

Students that remain on campus include first-year, transfer, and international students, and select students "who are unable to return home due to personal or academic reasons."

The Gettysburg School District shut down the James Gettys Elementary School and Gettysburg High School in mid-September duo to presence of confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state Department of Health in September determined that two members of the school staff at the elementary school had tested positive for the virus, and that two students at the high school had also tested positive. District officials directed that the students employ remote learning during the shutdown, which was expected to be lifted by the end of the month.

Catoctin High School and Emmitsburg Elementary schools remain closed to in-person learning through county mandate.