Superintendent tests positive for COVID-19
The superintendent of the LoganHocking school district in Hocking County tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, according to a letter he distributed to families Sunday.
Monte Bainter, in his fifth school year with the district, doesn’t have symptoms, but quarantined himself and sought testing Friday after learning he was exposed to someone with COVID-19.
He received a positive test result Saturday. Though schools are not required to report positive cases by name, Bainter told The Dispatch that he shared his information willingly to be transparent.
Bainter is working remotely from home and said he feels fine, and likely wouldn’t have known he was carrying the virus if he hadn’t been tested.
“It shows the importance of testing,” he said. “I want to stress to everyone: Wear your masks and keep your distance. I thought I was being pretty careful, really.”
The Hocking County Health Department is now conducting contact tracing and monitoring contacts for symptoms, he said.
Anyone Bainter was in “close contact” with — closer than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes since Thursday — would be considered at risk, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition.
The district’s administrative office also is being cleaned, Bainter said.
The Logan-hocking school district, which has approximately 3,800 students, started in-person classes Aug. 24. The district also offers an all-online option for families, and about 22%, or 850 students, are participating, Bainter said.
A non-teaching employee located at the district’s middle school also has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a separate Sunday letter. That person was not identified.
On Friday, the district also announced that a central office employee was “presumed positive” and quarantining at home. Several other central office employees started working from home as a precaution.
The district lists nearly 400 staff members on its online directory.
Ohio’s K-12 schools are required to report all cases of COVID-19 in their buildings to district families in writing and also make the information publicly available, according to a new state health order that Gov. Mike Dewine announced last week. They should “include as much information as possible, without disclosing protected health information.”
Schools must report confirmed cases to local health departments, which will then report new cases and cumulative case data to the Ohio Department of Health. That aggregate data will be posted online at coronavirus. ohio.gov each Wednesday.
As of Monday, the formal health order had not yet been released. awidmanneese@dispatch.com @Alissawidman