HPHS Staff Member Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Principal Says

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A Highland Park High School staff member is in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus Saturday, administrators said. It marks the second coronavirus case associated with the school disclosed so far this month, even before any student has returned to campus.

Township High School District 113 and Lake County Health Department officials have begun contact tracing to notify those who had direct contact with the infected staffer, according to Principal Deborah Finn.

Finn asked the school community to cooperate with the county's contact tracers to help prevent the spread of the virus. The identity of the staff member who tested positive is protected by health privacy laws and will not be disclosed by contact tracers.

"If you do not receive communication from school administration or the Lake County Health Department, your student has not been identified as a close contact and can continue to come into the building only for scheduled activities," Finn said.

Authentic contact tracers will not ask for personal information like social security numbers or immigration status and will not demand any form of payment or make any threats for not taking part, the principal explained Sunday in a message to the school community.

RELATED: Highland Park, Deerfield Districts Plan For Return To School

Students at Highland Park and Deerfield high schools are set to begin the 2019-20 school year with a model district officials have dubbed "remote plus services," which would begin the school year with some on-campus activities but no in-person instruction.

Administrators have yet to determine which services will be provided in person or what metrics will determine when a portion of students may be allowed to opt in to in-person instruction, according to a message from Superintendent Bruce Law.

"It astounds me that we continually hear about pandemic metrics but schools have not been given metrics to use to guide decisions about returning to school, decisions that by any measure are very high stakes," Law said. "The state uses metrics to determine when counties are at a 'warning level.' What metrics should schools use? Schools in other states are fully onsite as if there were no pandemic, and it’s not going well. How did they decide it was safe to return?"

According to the Lake County Health Department, more than 335 people in Highland Park, both incorporated and unincorporated, have tested positive as of Friday. Deerfield has seen at least 160 cases since the start of the pandemic. The county does not disclose the number of active cases or number of people hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19.

As of Friday, an average of seven people were admitted to hospitals with "COVID like illness" symptoms in the North Suburban Region, which includes Lake and McHenry counties, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

RELATED: Lake-McHenry Region Sees Coronavirus Hospitalizations Rise

According to the Lake County Health Department, 427 residents of the county with COVID-19 have died. State and local public health officials have refused to disclose the number of people who have died in individual municipalities or the causes of the death of those included in the count, citing privacy laws.

"Given the spread of COVID-19 in Lake County, we should not be surprised when presumed positive or positive test results are identified within our community," Finn said. "It may continue to occur, and this is a major reason why mitigation strategies such as maintaining social distance, masking, and hand washing are all still very important."

Last week, Superintendent Bruce Law notified the board a construction worker working on the Highland Park High School cafeteria had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, halting progress on construction.

Law said the affected area needed to be disinfected before work could begin again. Work resumed on the cafeteria Thursday, according to district spokesperson Karen Warner.

Also Thursday, Warner said the district had canceled a virtual town hall meeting due to "family emergency and illness for some of our administrator panelists." Warner said the cancelleation was unrelated to the coronavirus-positive test Finn reported Monday.

The District 113 board is due to meet Monday evening for a regular meeting. New teacher orientation is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, with the first day of student attendance for of the 2019-20 school year set for Aug. 17.