Several schools move to distance learning, criticizing Health Department’s contact tracing response
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – In Rhode Island, cases are surging at an alarming rate. The Department of Health announced 919 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which is on top of more than 700 on Tuesday.
The current daily positivity rate in the state stands at 6.7%.
Some school officials are criticizing the response of the Department of Health as cases hit a new single-day record high. In a single day, one district and two high schools made the call to move to distance learning due to the rise in cases.
The first call came from Cranston School District. The Superintendent announced all public schools are switching to distance learning until at least Monday.
Parents like Heather Mack said they’re concerned about the future of in-person learning. Mack has a 2nd grader who is autistic, so being in school in person is really important.
According to the school district spokesperson, the closure is because students and staff are either close contacts of people testing positive or are testing positive themselves. The district also stated that contact tracing is now their responsibility.
The district issued the following statement, “Due to the abundance of COVID-19 surging statewide, and the impact of this surge on both staff and students in Cranston, either as close contacts or as positive cases, it has become necessary for the Cranston Public Schools to close temporarily. Therefore, all students in all schools will be distance learning beginning immediately on Thursday, November 12, 2020. This will continue on Friday, November 13 and on Monday, November 16, which was already a scheduled distance learning day per the statewide calendar. This is a temporary closure. The school administration will reassess the situation in the days ahead and make a determination as to the next steps.
‘The health and safety of our staff and students has always been and continues to be our top priority as we navigate through this pandemic. The move to distance learning is a result of the abundance of cases of COVID-19 that have been reported to us in recent days and even just today alone.’ states a letter that was sent home to staff and families Wednesday evening. ‘As of today, the responsibility for contact tracing is now being shifted to the school departments themselves. We are doing our best to keep up with that task. However, as cases of staff who are positive, quarantined or in the process of being tested, have increased greatly, staffing has become difficult to maintain and predict.’ The Cranston Public Schools leadership team will be reassessing the situation in the days ahead and making the best decisions possible for the health and safety of all staff and students.
Many parents said they want clarity on who is responsible for contact tracing and how they can trust that those who need to be quarantined will be told before its too late.
The next school to make the move to distance learning came from West Warwick High School. School officials say the decision was made after learning of five new cases and because of the recent rise in cases in the state.
In a letter sent to parents, the Superintendent said, “Due to the fact that we have five (5) new positive COVID-19 cases at WWHS, out of an abundance of caution, WWHS will move to full distance learning for Thursday, November 12th and Friday, November 13th.
Moving to distance learning on Thursday and Friday will afford additional time for the district to receive information from RIDOH and for them to contact families that may need to quarantine. As always, the health and safety of our school community is our priority.
We feel this is the best measure to take pending further guidance from the department of health. All other schools in the district will continue with in-person attendance per their current plans (hybrid A&B day students and in-person students will report to school accordingly).”
Finally, Cumberland High School made the switch to distance learning for the rest of the week after learning of another positive case, saying they haven’t gotten any guidance from the health department regarding several other cases.
A statement from the Superintendent read, “Dear High School Students, Staff, and Families, First, I apologize for the late notice. We learned a short time ago that another high school student has tested positive for Covid-19.
Since we still have not received guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Health on several other cases, we feel it is necessary to complete this week with distance learning out of an abundance of caution. Superintendents from all over the state have expressed concern with both the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Department of Education regarding the slow response to contact tracing. We need information in a timely manner to make the important decision to either have students attend school or remain home with distance learning.
Given these circumstances, we feel that finishing the week with distance learning is the responsible decision. Again, we apologize for the late communication, however, we wanted to give our students, staff, and families time to plan accordingly.”
Governor Gina Raimondo has repeatedly pushed for in-person learning stating if cases ever got bad, they could always pull back.
In a press conference back in September, the Governor stated, “If, however, the department of health, working very closely, day by day with the school finds that there’s a broader transmission, then they will at that time make a decision to close a classroom, close a section of the school, or close the school.”
The Governor is set to hold her weekly press conference Thursday at 1:00 where she’s expected to talk about the surge in cases. ABC 6 News will be following it.
