NORTHAMPTON — Northampton school officials on Wedneday announced there is a case of COVID-19 in the district while more cases were reported in the William E. Norris School community in Southampton earlier this week.
“We are writing to inform you of a positive case of COVID-19 within our school community,” states a letter to families from Northampton School Superintendent John Provost and Lisa Safron, the district’s director of Health Services. “We are not at liberty to provide any personal information identifying a school community member who has tested positive.”
The school will be sanitized, the letter says, and the district will comply with guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“We have engaged our process of identifying staff and/or students that may be considered a close contact per the Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines,” the letter states. “Close contacts will be notified privately. If you have not been contacted, you are not considered to be a close contact and no further action is required.”
In Southampton, several COVID-19 cases have been reported in the William E. Norris School community. One positive case was identified last week and families were notified in a letter sent out by Aliza Pluta, the principal of the Norris School. The person who tested positive was not in the school building while contagious, according to the letter.
On Monday, another letter from Pluta went out to families notifying them that three more people tested positive.
“Two of these individuals were previously deemed close contacts to a positive person, and therefore, had been quarantined appropriately and were not in the school building during their infectious period,” the letter states. “The other individual has been in the school building recently, and we have identified all close contacts in collaboration with the Board of Health Contact Tracer. We want to reassure you that all parents of students who were in close contact with the community member have been notified privately.”
The district said it planned for this situation and has a “comprehensive plan in place to sanitize the school, inform families whose students were at risk of exposure or in close contact, and support the affected families as they navigate this stressful experience.”
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.