Officials say positive cases were likely despite precautions
A situation district officials said was inevitable has come to pass as two staff members in the Burlington Area School District have tested positive for COVID-19, officials confirmed Friday.
Those two cases – one each at Burlington High School and Karcher Middle School – have resulted in the quarantine of 15 other staff members who had close contact with them.
“Close contact means being within 6 feet of someone with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes, sharing a drinking glass or eating utensils, physically touching the person or things that may have their germs on them like dirty tissues, or being coughed or sneezed on,” Julie Thomas, the district’s communications coordinator, said in an email to the Standard Press.
The Central Racine County Health Department on Thursday sent letters to staff members and parents of students in the two schools informing them of the COVID-19 cases and providing information on symptoms and protocol for suspected infections.
Following public health guidelines, the two people who have tested positive will isolate for 10 days plus 24 hours without symptoms, and those who came in close contact will quarantine for 14 days, Thomas said.
As one of the first schools in the state to begin class for the 2020-21 school year, Burlington is a test case for other districts to follow.
Prior to the start of the school year on Aug. 17, Superintendent Stephen Plank acknowledged it was likely the district would have to deal with COVID-19 cases given its prevalence in the general population.
Thomas reiterated that message on Friday.
“With the numbers (of cases) in our community, we’ve recognized that contracting COVID was probable,” Thomas said. “That is why we have implemented the hybrid model to create distance, require face masks, encourage sanitation/hand washing, and have updated the health procedures for absences.”
The district has had to shift staff, and presumably use substitutes to cover for the missing staff members.
Thomas said a larger outbreak could force the district to alter its current instruction model.
“Essentially if the logistics of in-person instruction have been impacted due to staff and/or student absences then we’ll shift to virtual learning,” she said.
For a full report on the COVID-19 cases in the Burlington Area School District see the Sept. 3 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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