School district reports 29 cases of COVID this week,
GREENWICH — The school district was up 29 new cases of COVID-19 in a week and has logged a total of 126 since the start of classes this fall.
The district’s tracker reported 28 current active cases of the coronavirus as of Friday, with 98 cases resolved.
Since mid-October, there has been a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Greenwich Public Schools, which is consistent with statewide trends. Since the first week of November, there have been 93 new cases in the school system, causing concern among some families and teachers.
As of Friday, the affected school are Greenwich High, with eight active cases; Eastern Middle, with one case; Western Middle, with four cases; Cos Cob, with one case; Glenville, with four cases; Hamilton Avenue, with one case; the International School at Dundee, with two cases;
New Lebanon, with five cases; North Street, with one case; and Riverside, with one case.
Representatives from the Greenwich Education Association have on multiple occasions this fall expressed the fears of its members as the number of COVID-19 cases has risen in the schools. That fear was compounded by the arrival of the holidays, which some predicted would lead to further spread as people gathered with family and friends to celebrate.
The district has stayed consistent in its messaging that schools are safe for kids and, despite some calls to temporarily move to all remote learning in the weeks following Thanksgiving, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones has said the district intends to keep schools open for in-person learning.
So far, just one of the 126 cases reported by the district is traceable back to in-school contact, accord
ing to the district.
Teachers have also called into question the district’s communication of positive cases and quarantines.
Most notably, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Greenwich High Principal Ralph Mayo and several other administrators
were forced to quarantine. One tested positive for the virus.
Greenwich High staff and families were not notified of the absences until nearly 72 hours after Mayo was notified he had to quarantine, prompting questions about the district’s motives. In what amounted to both an apology and a reprimand of his staff, Mayo on Nov. 25 sent an email saying the lack of communication was a miscue between himself and central office and called insinuations that he district intentionally withheld information “inappropriate.”
A representative from the district said Friday that no other Greenwich High administrators had tested positive. According to the district’s tracker, just one administrator has tested positive since the start of school. That case is now resolved. Of the positive cases reported since the start of school, 102 have been students, nine have been teachers, 12 have been service providers and two have been non-teaching staff.