NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Two students and a staff member from a New Rochelle elementary school are in quarantine after a parent ignored an order not to bring her “presumed positive” child to school on Friday, according to an internal email seen by Talk of the Sound.
The youngster, a special education student, attended a HUB classroom at Christopher Columbus Elementary School, Wednesday through Friday, including on Thursday from 1 pm to 3 pm without wearing a mask. A HUB is a place for student to go if they have trouble connecting to virtual classes from home.
On Friday, the school called the youngster’s home to screen him before he arrived that day. The family said the child was exposed to a positive person and had a sore throat. Based on school district protocol, the parent was told not to bring the child to the HUB.
The family brought the youngster anyway.
“He was at school exposed and unwell for two hours on Friday on top of being mask-less for his entire visit the previous day,” said one source with knowledge of the incident.
In an email to staff Christopher Columbus Elementary School Principal Michael Galland expressed doubts about how Hybrid instruction could work given current coronavirus protocols.
“This is going to be rough,” said Galland. “Frankly, I can’t envision how we can successfully hold Hybrid instruction for more than a few weeks/days with these new guidelines in place.”
In the email, Galland explained the problem.
“The district is revising the protocols and procedures that will trigger students and staff to quarantine for either 10 or 14 days, or longer,” he said. “Earlier this week, quarantine determinations were planned for when a positive COVID-19 test result was known. By Friday, we received new guidance that now requires us to enforce 10- or 14-day quarantines on students/staff that have been exposed to a person with SYMPTOMS. The change is predicated on a presumption of being positive for those who are symptomatic.”
“So, as I understand the new guidelines, a child/teacher who leaves school, or who reports later that they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, would need to quarantine for 10-days (from the onset of symptoms). Further, it is likely that all exposed to this person (who is now presumed positive) would have to quarantine for 14-days (from their last day of contact/exposure to the presumed positive individual).”
“This new guidance has already impacted our school. A student who told his parent on Friday morning that he had a “scratchy throat” came to our HUB Friday afternoon. As we had been advised earlier in the week, our nurses had completed weekly phone calls to “screen” all ABA students (special education students) and HUB students. Friday morning, this family was called for the next week’s screening. The parent was instructed NOT to send the student, but the student came anyway. Although we sent the student home quickly, that he was in our HUB triggered the quarantine guidelines I listed above. Our HUB staff member and another student in the HUB at the time, will need to quarantine for 14 days. The child with a sore throat has been instructed to quarantine for 10 days.”
The presumed-positive student is not an ABA student (behavioral) and he did not have a doctors note to excuse him from wearing a mask on Thursday, sources say.
One source says the student was not sent home “quickly” but instead remained at the school for over an hour participating in a Zoom class from the school cafeteria.
The incident at Columbus raises a number of questions such as whether staff at the school were told the student was allowed in the HUB for two hours without a mask on Thursday, that after the family was told not to bring the child to school but brought him anyway, despite not passing the screening.
More concerning is the entire protocol for screening students is on the honor code and even when a family is honest about the condition of the child and exposure to a positive person, as was the case at Columbus, the child still showed up at school and was allowed into a classroom with other students and staff.
This is crazy. What is New Rochelle school district doing. We understand that there is chaos in the district right now but some one should be held accountable for allowing this child to enter this building and helping to intentionally affect other students, staff, families, and start another community spread if the child does become positive to COVID-19. There should of been a red flag alert letting staff know this particular child cannot enter. The Principal and nurse should of taking more accurate measures of not letting this happen and the parent should be held accountable as well because she was informed and instructed not to send the child to school. I wonder what this parent was thinking. Do she and the Columbus administration realize that this virus is still a deadly virus. SMH!!!