BARNSTABLE, MASS. (WHDH) - Students and staff are heading back to school in Barnstable where COVID cases as now on the decline.
The school district abruptly stopped in-person learning after 70 students and staff tested positive for COVID-19. The highest average of daily cases Barnstable reported since the start of the pandemic.
Ashley Halley is the mother of a child in the district and said her test results came back positive just as cases were spiking.
“It came back positive – and then this little munchkin ended up getting it as well,” she explained.
Now, over a week later, Superintendent Dr. Meg Mayo-Brown cited a significant decline in cases and said it is time to return to the classroom five days a week.
First-grader Audrey States said she can’t wait.
“I’m excited if I get to go to actual school,” she said.
Audrey is still quarantining so she will not be able to join her West Villages Elementary School classmates right away. But, most healthy kindergarten through third-graders will be back to class full time come Monday.
“I think that’s great for all the kids because I’m sure every single kid is behind in one way or another,” Halley said. “We just can’t stop the whole world and the community and our kids learning.”
The district is still working out how to safely social distance the older elementary school kids.
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