Haddonfield Schools Issue Statement On Coronavirus

HADDONFIELD, NJ — After the Centers for Disease Control warned on Tuesday that American schools, businesses, and communities should prepare for the novel coronavirus, the Haddonfield Public School District issued a message to the community Friday afternoon.

"Here in Haddonfield, everyday prevention is the best way to combat most illnesses," Haddonfield Superintendent of Schools Larry Mussoline said. "Not just during flu season and not only when the news highlights an alarming new virus, we clean and disinfect all tables and desks daily, and lunch tables are disinfected after every lunch. We always have an ample supply of hand sanitizer in each classroom."

“Regarding concerns about Coronavirus, this is a time when we double-check our procedures and policies," Haddonfield School District Doctor Jennifer M. Naticchia said. "In order to work together as a community we ask that if your child has a fever, cough, vomiting, or diarrhea or any other signs of an infection, please keep him/her home and contact your primary care physician.
If a child should become ill during school hours, we will be calling you to pick up the student in accordance with the DOH guidelines. We may err on the side of caution and ask to have children picked up even for low-grade fever and mild symptoms of illness. Thank you for your cooperation.”

"That’s a very difficult lift that would have to be worked through with guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education, as well as from the teachers’ union," Mussoline said. "Obstacles to teaching remotely are numerous. Do all students have access to computers at home, because we only provide Chromebooks to students in grades 5 through 10? Do all students have Wi-Fi access at home to receive digital content? Would all teachers be able to leverage a learning management system like Canvas to deliver meaningful content remotely?

"Parents of young children in elementary grades would have to juggle their work schedules in order to participate in what would be an enormous, unexpected experience in widespread home-schooling. The notion of simply teaching remotely is much easier said than done, but we will be examining all options in the event that our schools are forced to close. Prevention, as I mentioned above and as explained by our school doctor, is by far the best advice anyone can give today, similar to advice given during previous scares of H1N1 and Ebola."

"We would strongly caution families traveling abroad over break to take all proper and necessary precautions," Mussoline said. "Speaking of travel, our senior class trip to Orlando, Disney World, is in another four weeks. There are no federal travel restrictions within the United States at this time, and it would be premature for us to outright cancel the class trip. But for all parents consenting to send children to Disney World in early April, please be sure that necessary precautions are taken. More will be coming from HMHS to senior parents on this issue in the coming weeks."

Globally, at least 80,000 people have been infected and 2,700 people have died from the new coronavirus, creating a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. It is spreading so quickly overseas that infectious disease experts and scientists warn there may be no way to contain it.

On Thursday, the CDC confirmed the first known case of the coronavirus in the United States not to result from travel to an affected region or contact with another person already known to have contracted the infection.

There have been no cases in New Jersey so far. But state officials say they're preparing for a spread of the disease across the region. Read more: NJ Preparing For Coronavirus Outbreak After Dire CDC Warning