Raleigh elementary school that just reopened Monday reports its first COVID-19 case
A Wake County elementary school that just reopened for classes Monday is reporting its first positive COVID-19 case.
Michelle Bell, the principal of Forest Pines Drive Elementary School in Raleigh, notified families Wednesday that an individual associated with the school has tested positive for COVID-19. She said the individual, who she did not identify as a student or staff member, was last on campus on Tuesday.
“We are working closely with the Wake County Public Health Division and the individual to identify and notify anyone who may have been in close contact with the individual to provide them further instructions,” Bell said in the message. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines close contact as being within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more.”
Bell told families that there’s nothing for them to do unless they’re contacted by the Wake County Health Department. She said those people should follow the instruction they’re given.
Forest Pines and other Wake County elementary schools reopened for in-person instruction on Monday for the first time since March 13. Wake is phasing in the return of PreK-3 students and K-12 special education students in regional programs on a cycle of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of online classes.
On Nov. 16, the PreK-3 and K-12 special-ed regional students will get daily in-person classes. Also that day, students in fourth and fifth grades will return on the three-week rotation of in-person and online classes.
Middle school students will start on the three-week rotation on Nov. 9. High school students will stay with online classes for the rest of the fall semester.
The news at Forest Pines comes after three Wake County high schools notified families Tuesday that people associated with athletic teams had tested positive for COVID-19. Most high school students are only taking online classes, but some athletes are back at campus for practices and workouts.
Privacy rights of person who tested positive
Bell said the person who tested positive won’t be allowed to return to Forest Pines until several safety requirements are met.
Bell also said that areas at the North Raleigh school that may have been exposed to the virus will be thoroughly cleaned.
While families may want to know more, Bell said the Wake County school system is prohibited by state and federal law from disclosing the health information of students or employees. Before schools were initially closed in March, many often false rumors about people testing positive for the coronavirus were spread around schools.
“No one should publicly declare another employee or student as sick,” Bell said. “In the event others need to be notified of a suspected or positive case of COVID-19, local health officials will notify them and provide them further instructions.
“Do not notify colleagues, students or families of positive cases. To protect individual privacy, notifications will not identify anyone by name or contain information that could be used to identify them.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 6:50 PM.
