WINCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Classes at Winchester High School will be held remotely for the next two days after one student tested positive for COVID-19.
Superintendent Judith Evans announced Wednesday that the high school is moving to full remote status on Thursday and Friday, with staff members given the option to teach from home or in the school building.
The student who tested positive for the virus has not been in school buildings or played on any school athletic teams but Evans said they have decided to temporarily move to remote learning due to a number of unapproved student social gatherings in recent days.
The health department is in the process of conducting full contact tracing to determine and notify close contacts.
“We have been planning for this scenario during our reopening planning process and have a comprehensive plan in place to inform those at risk of exposure or in close contact outside of the school building and will support those affected as they navigate this stressful experience,” Evans said in a letter to Winchester families and staff members. “Our student body and staff members must continue to adhere to the safety protocols, including mask wearing, hand washing, and physical distancing. We are grateful to our families for their continued efforts to keep students home at the first sign of symptoms. These measures, taken in combination, greatly reduce the risk of transmission.”
All close contacts of the infected student will be asked to get tested but will have to self quarantine for two weeks, regardless of the test result, Evans said.
Those who do test positive are advised to report the results to the school nurse.
Students who have attended any gatherings in recent weeks where social distancing and mask protocols were not fully in place are also urged to get tested.
Other schools in the area have dealt with positive coronavirus cases, including Attleboro High School.
Attleboro Mayor Paul Heroux expressed outrage on Wednesday after he says parents intentionally sent their child who tested positive for the virus to school on the first day of in-person classes on Monday.
“We don’t know how a parent thought this was a good idea,” Heroux exclaimed. “An egregious, it was a reckless action to send a child, a teenager, to school who is COVID positive. Yes, it was really poor judgment.”
About 30 students who were identified through contact tracing have been told to quarantine at home for 14 days.
Heroux says that, “If you know that your child has coronavirus and is COVID positive, you should not send your child to school — under any circumstance.”
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