ATTLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux on Wednesday said the parents of a COVID-positive student knew their child was sick but still sent them to the first day of class on Monday, despite being aware of the highly contagious nature of the virus.
“An egregious…It was a reckless action to send a child, a teenager to school who is COVID-positive,” Heroux said. “It was really poor judgment.”
Parents of school children in the town learned Tuesday that a student who attended the public high school the day before had tested positive for COVID-19.
Superintendent David Sawyer said they were not notified of the test result until Tuesday.
“This unacceptable outcome was caused by delays in the reporting timeline, not a breakdown in our safety protocols,” Sawyer wrote in a letter to families. “Our nurses diligently have identified all of the close contacts and notified these families of the need for these students to quarantine for fourteen days. If you were not contacted, your student was not impacted by this event.”
About 30 students who were identified through contact tracing have been told to quarantine at home for 14 days.
“I’m a little frightened for my health,” high school student Iza King said. “I’m worried for my safety.”
Attleboro, which has about 6,000 students in its school system, opted to begin the school year with a mix of in-person and remote learning.
“We really need parents to cooperate and keep their kids home if they know that they are COVID-positive,” Heroux added.
Classes are continuing at Attleboro Public Schools.
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