COVID-19 Case Reported At Deer Park HS, School Closed Tuesday

DEER PARK, NY — Deer Park High School will be closed on Tuesday after a confirmed case of coronavirus, Superintendent Jim Cummings announced in a letter to the community.

While the letter did not specify if the person was confirmed to have COVID-19 was a student or staff, Cummings wrote that the Department of Health has begun the process of contact tracing.

In most cases health officials will mandate a two week quarantine for students and teachers who were in the same class as the person who tested positive with the quarantine beginning at least 48 hours before the onset of symptoms.

According to the letter, the Department of Health does not recommend that the building close, but that the number of staff place under quarantine creates a "supervision and instructional issue."

As a result, the district decided to go full remote on Tuesday instead of covering so many classes with substitute teachers or losing out on a day of teaching.

"Given the number of teachers that a high school student interacts with on a given day, or over the course of two Cohort days, there is the potential for there to be 10 or more staff members, and over 100 students, who are subject to quarantine," Cummings wrote in the letter. "On a fully remote model, both Gray and Maroon Cohorts, and all virtual students, can have synchronous instruction. In additional, the teachers who are quarantined can still maintain continuity with the students."

Under the Deer Park School District hybrid plan, Wednesday is already a full virtual remote day. Cummings wrote he will make a decision for school opening on Thursday and Friday after receiving more information from the Department of Health.