More School COVID Cases, But Reopening To Proceed

There are five new cases of COVID-19 in Verona schools, but the district intends–for now–to reopen schools next week on schedule for hybrid learning.

In an email this afternoon, Superintendent Dr. Rui Dionisio said that the district has confirmed two new COVID cases at Verona High School, two at F.N. Brown and one at H.B. Whitehorne. But it seems that Verona’s November 23 decision to go back to remote instruction before Thanksgiving kept the outbreak from being worse than it might otherwise have been because students and staff have not been in contact with one another in the school buildings.

“Based on the circumstances of these cases impacting these individuals who have been isolated for an extended period of time,” Dionisio’s email said, “the Montclair Health Department has determined that the current status of cases in the Verona Public Schools does not warrant extending remote learning and closing school to in-person instruction at this time.” Elementary school students will go back to their hybrid learning on Monday, December 7, while VHS and HBW will return to hybrid on Tuesday, December 8, “barring any unforeseen circumstances,” the email said. VHS will, however, alter its schedule because one of its three cohorts has not had as many in-person days than the others.

Dionisio’s email cautioned families that students and staff who fail to meet the requirements of the district’s daily questionnaire for symptoms, travel, or contact with sick individuals will not be permitted to enter a school building. He said that individuals must stay home while waiting for test results and that people cannot “test out” of quarantine. “A negative COVID test result means that you are negative at the time of the test but you can still test positive later on during the quarantine period,” Dionisio said.

As of today, December 4, Verona has had 319 positive cases of COVID-19, up from 302 on December 1.