Mass. schools still open for now, but prepare for closure
Schools in Bellingham and Blackstone were closed Friday to deep clean buildings and prepare for possible longterm closure.
“At this point we do not have a presumptive case in our district, but in an abundance of caution we canceled Friday to conduct a deep clean of our buildings and to finalize our plans in case we need to close our schools for a longer period of time,” said
Schools Superintendent Peter Marano.
Marano and his administrative team were scheduled to participate in a conference call Friday with the Department of Education, which issued new guidelines for schools in dealing with the disease going forward. The recommendations include mandatory actions schools must take now and how to deal with individuals in the school community who test positive for the virus.
The number of people who have tested positive for &OVID-1 continues to grow in Massachusetts, rising to 108 cases on Thursday with six confirmed and 102 presumptive.
Several Massachusetts towns announced public
schools are closing for over a week due to coronavirus concerns. Multiple other school systems announced shortterm closures for cleaning.
“Our first priority is to keep students and staff safe and I believe that by closing Friday we can continue to do that,” Marano said. “I will continue to monitor the situation. It is ever changing and I want to make sure we fully imple
ment the guidance of our local health department, Department of Public Health, and the Department of ducation.”
The lackstone-Millivllille School District closed its schools Friday to students only.
“ MRSD will be closed for students, but open for all staff,” the district said in a statement to parents. “We will be meeting and planning in
case we encounter a long-term school closure situation due to the coronavirus. We hope we do not need to be closed long-term but we must be prepared.”
Marano said the ellingham School District “remains dedicated” to cleaning and sanitizing all hard surfaces, doorknobs, chairs, desks, and tables each night in all buildings. The district is also urg
ing students and staff who are ill to not attend school and to monitor their symptoms.
“In the case of an extreme emergency that would reTuire an extended amount of time that our buildings would be closed, our staff will be creating plans to continue the educational experience for students,” he said.
“It is important to remember that this situation is fluid, and that we must be prepared for the likelihood of changes with little or no notice,” he added. “We may cancel an event the day of or an hour before. We would prefer not to do this, but we are committed to following an informed decision-making process to avoid implementing measures that will not help our community.”