District 15 delays in-person start after 4 on staff test positive for virus, 30+ quarantined
Palatine Township Elementary District 15 said Friday it is delaying to Sept. 21 its plan to start in-person instruction because more than 30 staff members are in self-isolation after possible COVID-19 exposure and it needs time to get specialized safety equipment under new state health guidance.
The first day of school with remote learning was Wednesday, and the plan had been to start rolling re-entry Sept. 8. But Superintendent Laurie Heinz said in an email to parents Friday afternoon that after teacher orientation last week, four staff members across four schools tested positive for COVID-19, as did a contractor working on a summer construction project.
"Although we are not aware of any case-to-case transmission or any close contacts contracting the virus, this experience provides a stark reminder that we cannot predict how many positive cases and subsequent instances of quarantine will occur as we continue to welcome students back to school in-person," she said.
One of the new mandates from the Illinois Department of Public Health is a requirement for custodians and nurses to wear fit-tested N95 masks when cleaning a space occupied by a person with any COVID-19 symptoms, or when evaluating a person exhibiting symptoms.
District 15 placed an order for the N95 masks, but the shipment will take a while due to nationwide shortages, Heinz said. The masks will have to be professionally fitted, which will not happen by Sept. 8, she said.
The revised state health guidance states anyone near a COVID-19 positive person for 15 cumulative - instead of consecutive - minutes is considered a close contact. After contact tracing by the district, more than 30 staff members were identified as close contacts and are in self-isolation for 14 days, Heinz said.
The new plan calls for a Sept. 21 start for kindergarten and K-8 self-contained special education programs, Sept. 28 for grades 1-2 and self-contained early childhood, Oct. 5 for grades 3-4, and Oct. 13 for grades 5-8 and more.
Continued high numbers of staff members who need to quarantine due to illness or close contact could result in a staffing shortage, Heinz said.
Heinz said the district was disappointed not to be able to welcome students back as planned.
"That will not be easy to resolve with our limited substitute teacher pool during this ongoing pandemic in which many substitutes are not willing to work in schools," she wrote.
That in turn could affect the district's ability to move forward with the Sept. 21 rolling re-entry plan.