LYNNFIELD — Superintendent of Schools Kristen Vogel has fired a warning shot at Lynnfield parents, announcing Monday in an email sent to parents and in a follow-up press release, that, unless parents comply with COVID-19 safety protocols regarding close-contact reporting, the high school may be forced to suspend in-person learning and revert to remote only.
“Over the past few days, we have learned from the Board of Health, that four high school students were close contacts of positive individuals in their homes and we were not notified, per our safety protocols,” Vogel stated in the press release. “This failure to inform us puts the public health of the high school community at risk and may cause us to pause in-person learning at the high school for a period of time.”
School Committee Chairman Jamie Hayman said, it’s not about the number of cases in the schools or town, but about those parents who did not report that their children had been potentially exposed to coronavirus through a family member (a parent) who tested positive for COVID-19.
“Any student in a family who has been exposed to someone, such as a family member or anyone with whom they have been in close contact, must inform the schools,” Hayman said. “In this case, we were only able to keep the school open because the students involved were on remote days under the district’s hybrid plan and were not physically present in school.”
Vogel went on to say that since returning to school in September, the district has “carefully monitored cases of COVID-19 within our schools as well as the public health data for Lynnfield.
“We believe deeply in the need for our students to learn in person to the fullest extent possible. To date, we have been able to continue with in-person learning in our hybrid plan because of the COVID protocols we have put in place in our schools, and with the cooperation of our school families to follow those protocols.
“Since September we have worked hard to provide the students of Lynnfield with in-person learning in a hybrid model that is safe and responsible. This is a result of the partnership and cooperation of our families in following our safety protocols and informing us of close contacts, symptoms, positive test results, and travel plans.
“It is imperative that our families have open and honest communication with us in order to stay ahead of this virus.”
Hayman said that the district’s goal is to “keep students in school as long as we can for in-person learning and expand in-person learning.
“Our kids are learning under a teacher’s supervision every day. Some districts are not doing that and giving kids only two days a week with a teacher, so we believe our system is among the best in the state and we want to do everything to keep it that way.”
Hayman said the matter will be discussed at Tuesday’s School Committee meeting.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
