More than 150 students from the Plum School District have been asked to stay home after a classmate tested positive for COVID-19 following a parent-sponsored dance over the weekend.

School district officials sent a letter to families Monday night, alerting them that a student who attended the Class of 2021 Senior Parent Committee’s Homecoming Dance on Saturday had tested positive. The event was held at the Five Pines Barn in Irwin. Masks also were not a requirement for the duration of the dance, district officials said in a statement.

As a result, district officials are working to contact more than 150 families of students who attended the event — including families from out of state.

The school has so far identified around eight people who were in close contact with the student who tested positive.

Andrew Goldstein

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The district said it is working with event sponsors to aggregate a list of all students who attended the party. The list includes students from other districts, and even some in Ohio.

School officials said in an updated statement Tuesday afternoon that the Allegheny County Health Department is unable to provide contact tracing due to the participants who attended the event. Since masks were not required and social distancing was not maintained, the county health department is requiring that all students and adults who attended the dance to quarantine for 14 days from the date of the event.

Students who attended the homecoming event can return to school in person Dec. 1 — as long as he or she does not develop symptoms of COVID-19, district officials said. Students can participate in classroom activities online.

The county health department encourages parents who attended the event to monitor their children for symptoms. 

The county and the state have seen COVID-19 infections steadily increase in the past month, with Allegheny topping 500 new daily cases just this past week.

La­cre­tia Wim­b­ley: 412-263-1510, lwim­b­ley@post-ga­zette.com or fol­low @Wim­b­ley­journo on Twit­ter.

First Published: November 17, 2020, 3:48 p.m.
Updated: November 17, 2020, 8:04 p.m.