In the spirit of transparency and to maintain our commitment of continued communication during these unprecedented times, the school board would like to update the community on the recent COVID-19 related events in the school district.
As you are aware, there was a student in the middle/senior high school who has tested positive for COVID-19. Immediately upon the discovery of this positive case, all students in both the elementary and middle/ high schools were held in place in their classrooms as a safety precaution until they were released from school. The student who tested positive went home immediately. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services was notified right away and is managing all contact tracing with the help of our staff.
As previously communicated, in an effort to best protect all of our school community, the school board decided to act with an abundance of caution. We created a policy that dictated that should there be a single positive COVID test result within the school community we would immediately switch to remote learning for all students for a minimum of 10 school days. During those 10 days, the school will work very closely with DHHS to determine when it will be safe to re-open the schools for in-class learning. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, in-class learning is currently scheduled to begin again on November 30th. During this time of remote learning, the buildings will undergo extreme deep cleaning and sanitation.
The staff and administration have put forth tremendous effort this school year to be able to offer in-class learning for the students in Hinsdale. In general, it has gone extremely well, and we commend those efforts. Plans and protocols were put in place and followed should there be a positive test result in the school district. The school board and administration will be working closely with the school nurses and other resources to evaluate the situation and determine if there needs to be changes or updates to any current plans and procedures.
We will continue to maintain open communication with the community and understand that this is a difficult time for everyone involved. Thank you to the entire community for your continued support and for keeping the safety and well-being of the staff and students, as well as, the education of the students in Hinsdale everyone’s top priority.