Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey recently asked Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to direct the state’s public schools to begin planning for the delivery of online instruction if the continued spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania makes opening schools for in-person instruction unsafe for students, educators and their families.

Askey shared this request in a letter to Wolf and Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera.

“It is extremely important for Pennsylvania’s public schools to plan for the distinct possibility that further increases in COVID-19 cases will make it impossible to safely reopen Pennsylvania’s schools for in-person instruction,” Askey wrote in the letter to Wolf and Rivera. “In public education, planning is paramount to providing the very best instruction for our students.

“That is why it is absolutely essential that every public school entity in Pennsylvania is prepared to deliver online instruction. School entities that have not already developed plans for online instruction must immediately create them. So, I ask that you use your executive authority to direct school entities to work with their local education associations and develop thorough, complete and well-reasoned online instruction models.”

Askey emphasized educators and support professionals want to return to school and be with their students in person. However, he noted health risks associated with COVID-19 may be impossible to prevent in school buildings if the current increase in Pennsylvania cases continues.

“There is absolutely no doubt that the educators and support professionals I am so proud to represent want to return to school and see their students in person. And no one knows better than educators how important it is to provide students with the highest-quality learning experiences and supports,” Askey wrote. “Unfortunately, an increasing number of Pennsylvania educators and parents are concerned that reopening schools for in-person instruction poses significant health risks that, in the current environment, may be impossible to completely prevent.”

Askey is a Harrisburg music teacher and the president of PSEA. An affiliate of National Education Association, PSEA represents about 180,000 active and retired educators and school employees, student teachers, higher education staff and health care workers in Pennsylvania.