No Coronavirus: Shoreham-Wading River School District Reopens

SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER, NY — The Shoreham-Wading River School District is open Tuesday after students were sent home Monday following the news that the spouse of a staff member may have had exposure to coronavirus.

The Department of Health confirmed that no individual in the district has tested positive, Superintendent of Schools Gerald Pool wrote in a message on the district's website Monday.

"Tuesday, March 10 will be a normal school day for all of our district and we look forward to seeing our students and staff," he said.

In his message, Poole thanked students, families and staff members for their patience.

"I know that the unexpected closure of school created disturbances in each of your lives and I appreciate your understanding as we worked through this unprecedented situation," he wrote. "Please be assured that the decision to close today was not one that the district made lightly. The information we received early this morning was limited and initially indicated that a member of our security team might have been exposed to an individual with the coronavirus."

The safety and security of students and staff is the district’s top priority, he said.

"Those are not just words to us — we truly mean them, and thus was the basis for our decision this morning. As we were waiting for further clarification from the Department of Health and the start of the school day was imminent, we felt it prudent to close in order to be overly cautious and in the best interest of our students/staff health," he said.

While the situation developed Monday, the district worked internally to take proactive steps to further past efforts, Poole said.

"We once again completed a thorough and deep cleaning of all surfaces in our schools and our buses went through a deep disinfecting process," he said.