October 5, 2020

Dear Needham Public Schools Families:

This weekend, we had our first positive COVID-19 case among the high school student body. Although it saddens me to know that one of our students is ill, I’m relieved that the health team from the district and the Town’s Department of Health responded promptly and appropriately. I am also pleased and grateful to report that the family recognized the student was not feeling well earlier in the week and kept the student home for the first week of classes.  As a result, there was no contact with other individuals in the school.  Please know that any adult or student who is considered a close contact of this individual has already been identified and notified. Those individuals are required to quarantine for 14 days.

 

Allow me to take this opportunity to share with you how the Needham Public Schools will be communicating information about COVID-19 cases in our district and helping to mitigate the spread of the disease. First and foremost, we will be guided by Department of Public Health guidelines and the Needham Public Schools Illness Guidelines. 

 

•  Student Illness If your student is ill, your first call should be to the School Nurse so that we can ensure you receive the information you need to keep your family safe and so our health officials can immediately begin contact tracing.

 

• Contact Tracing If a Needham Public Schools staff member or student tests positive for COVID-19, the contact tracing protocol is implemented. Any adult or student who is considered a close contact of this individual is identified and notified by the Public Health Department. It is very important to answer the call from the Public Health Department and follow their instructions about staying home from school and away from extracurricular activities. Families and staff are advised to call their healthcare provider for evaluation and get a COVID-19 PCR test. If individuals are not notified through the Public Health Department’s contact tracing, they are not close contacts and do not need to quarantine. 

 

The Needham Public Schools will complement contact tracing by taking the following steps:

-  There may be times when the district reaches out to families through the use of our automated phone system to request that children in certain classes or in certain schools be kept home while the contact tracing is being implemented. This brief phone message will be followed up the next day with more information about the return to school.

-   If there is the need for an entire class to quarantine, the school will communicate with families about how their child’s learning will continue.

-  If there is a suspected in-school or in-district transmission, the Superintendent will communicate with all staff and families about the next steps, which could include: closing part of or the entire school or district for a short time for thorough cleaning, or closing for the duration of a 14-day quarantine. This communication will be shared with the Town for wide distribution.

-    On the district website, information on the number of known cases of COVID-19 will soon be posted for general reference. This number does not include any personally identifiable information and is reported, as required, to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

 

To reiterate, you are receiving this communication for informational purposes. If you have not been previously contacted by our health professionals, your student is not in the group that will need to follow protocols in place for close contacts.

 

At the heart of the district’s communication’s process is our dedication to health and safety. Our focus has been - and will remain - the health, safety, and wellbeing of our students, staff, families, and community.

 

Respectfully,