Hart High to be closed due to COVID-19 outbreak

Hart High School is closed for the next 14 days due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the campus, district officials informed parents Wednesday.

In the email distributed to the Hart High community, Superintendent Mike Kuhlman states that the district was notified by the Los Angeles County Public Health Department that the school had three “linked cases of COVID-19 on campus” and that the campus would have to be closed through at least Dec. 30.

“This is a temporary closure of the physical campus — not an interruption to the instructional program,” Kuhlman said. “Teachers and instructional support staff will continue classes online through the end of the semester this Friday.”

The students who have been going onto campus in small cohorts in order to receive special instruction have already transitioned to online learning, Kuhlman said, adding that the few staff members still on campus would be shifting to remote working.

“While it is understandable to ask questions about who has tested positive, we are precluded by law from announcing specific details about those with a positive diagnosis,” Kuhlman said. “Through contact tracing, we always alert staff and students who were in close contact with the

individuals in question. Students and staff are not required to quarantine unless they have been notified to do so.”

Hart will not be able to distribute food during the period of this shutdown, but parents should be redirected to Placerita Junior High School as an alternate food distribution site, officials said.

“We don’t want to minimize the significance of a temporary shutdown due to linked COVID cases,” said Kuhlman. “However, it’s important to remember that the temporary closure ... does not indicate that being present on campus is inherently unsafe. Rather, in an abundance of caution, we are carefully implementing the guidelines established by public health professionals to break the chain of transmission that comes from people being in close contact with one another.”

Kuhlman said the district still believes Hart High School’s campus will be reopened for those cohort students and limited staff once again come the start of the next semester, Jan. 11.

The district’s COVID-19 dashboard — available at bit.ly/ HartCOVIDDash — shows five staff members at Hart High School had a total of five cases among the site staff as well as one student. Six students and 14 other staff members districtwide have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days.