New COVID clusters reported at Wake County elementary school and charter school
New COVID-19 clusters have been reported at a Wake County elementary school and a charter school.
Casa Esperanza Montessori School, a K-8 charter school in Raleigh, reported 10 COVID cases: eight students and two staff members, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Zebulon Elementary School also made the latest DHHS report, released Friday, of ongoing clusters at child care centers and schools. The school had five COVID cases: four students and one school employee.
DHHS defines a “cluster” as five or more linked cases in the same facility within 14 days.
Students quarantine due to cluster
In a letter Thursday from the principal, Zebulon Elementary families and employees were told that health officials had recommended that all students and staff in the affected classes quarantine for 14 days. Those students and families were notified and will participate in remote learning until they’re allowed to return to school.
Casa Esperanza switched to remote learning last week due to the COVID outbreak affecting multiple classrooms, according to a school document. Students returned to campus for in-person classes on Monday.
The new school clusters come as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines on Friday saying K-12 students can safely sit in classrooms 3 feet apart, the Associated Press reported.
A recently approved state law requires North Carolina elementary schools to operate under Plan A, which has minimal social distancing requirements that allow for daily in-person instruction.
School districts have until April 1 to get elementary schools on Plan A. Fourth- and fifth-grade students in the Wake County school system moved to Plan A on Monday, joining K-3 students who’ve been getting daily in-person classes.
Dozens of school districts across the state are taking advantage of the school reopening law allowing them to also operate middle schools and high schools on Plan A.
The latest DHHS report lists 12 schools in Wake County with active COVID clusters — eight private schools, two charter schools and two district schools.
Other Wake schools on the list are Cathedral School, Cardinal Gibbons High School, Cary Christian School, Envision Science Academy, The Franciscan School, Neuse Christian Academy, North Raleigh Christian Academy, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Lincoln Heights Elementary and Wake Christian Academy.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
