Entire kindergarten class in central Pa. quarantined

A teacher and a classroom of students in Cumberland County have been placed in quarantine for 14 days after a kindergarten student at the South Middleton School District’s W.G. Rice Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19 late last week.

School Principal David Boley learned of the confirmed positive case Friday. All the impacted students will receive remote instruction until their return to in-person instruction at the school on Oct. 9. South Middleton Superintendent Matthew Strine, in a letter to families on the district website, described the case as “an incidental finding.”

“The kindergarten student had no symptoms,” Strine said. “The family found out the student was positive because of a routine testing outside of the school setting. The student has no other siblings in the school system.”

Two other nearby school districts reported positive COVID cases late last week. On Thursday, Superintendent Richard Fry notified Big Spring High School families that a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19. That person was described as a “classified” employee, which is not a teacher or building administrator. “Those in close contact to the staff member that may have been exposed have been contacted by the district already,” Fry said.

Late Friday morning, Carlisle Area School District learned from a parent that a fourthgrader at LeTort Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19. “The student is quarantined per the DoH [Pennsylvania Department of Health] guidelines,” Superintendent Christina Spielbauer said in a letter to families posted on the district website.

Carlisle schools reopened Monday to in-person instruction after recent reports of COVID-19 cases among students prompted a short-term closure of buildings last week.

Classroom lessons in Carlisle are scheduled under a Tier Two hybrid instruction model where students in Group A attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays while students in Group B attend school on Thursdays and Fridays. Students in either group receive remote instruction on alternating days while all students attend remote instruction on Wednesdays. The fourthgrader at LeTort is a Group B student who has not attended school since Sept. 18, Spielbauer said.

“The district has been in close communication with the Department of Health and has followed their recommended guidance in terms of quarantining the student and disinfecting the building. We are confident in the steps that have been taken to safeguard all of our students and staff. “The district disinfected the areas visited by the student,” Spielbauer said. “The Department of Health will be in direct contact with individuals or a parent/guardian to provide guidance regarding isolation for the confirmed case and quarantine for any individual(s) deemed as close contacts. Close contacts are individuals who have been within six feet of the confirmed case for more than 15 minutes.”

Carlisle administrators have communicated with families through School Messenger and have assisted Health Department officials with contact tracing, risk assessment and quarantine recommendations.

The other districts have activated similar protocols. In South Middleton, families will be notified to quarantine their child for 14 days if he or she rode the bus with the kindergarten student or has been deemed a close contact. “As per our Health and Safety Plan, all classroom areas and the school bus are being intensively cleaned,” Strine said. “This incident does not impact any of our other schools.”

Meanwhile, at Big Spring, district administrators remain in close contact with the family and sends its well wishes to the classified staff member, Fry said.