Westwood summer program staffer positive for COVID-19, superintendent says

WESTWOOD, Mass. — A staff member in the Westwood Schools summer program has tested positive for the coronavirus, Superintendent Emily J. Parks announced Wednesday.

The school system says about 100 students in the Extended School Year special education programs have been part of a summer program that began July 6.

“The staff member began to feel ill on July 3 before the program started,” a letter from Parks said.

However, officials say the staffer was told she tested negative for COVID-19 over the weekend and reported to work Monday.

It was on Monday that staffer was informed she had actually tested positive for the virus.

We share the community’s concern that a staff member in our summer program has tested positive for coronavirus. We want to emphasize that her exposure to students was limited to a three-hour block, during which time she was properly outfitted with PPE. We want to recognize the diligence of the Westwood Public Health Department for its quick action to conduct contact tracing, which enabled us to immediately call those families whose students were in close contact with the staffer.

—  Statement from Westwood Public Schools

“I would definitely be frightened. It makes me feel better they were taking the proper protocol,” said James Abraham, a Westwood resident.

Monday evening, the school sent out a letter to parents saying all involved families had been notified and the staffer had been sent home.

“Fortunately, the employee was able to clearly articulate the safety and preventative measures on which she had been trained and confirm that she had assiduously adhered to them,” Parks wrote. “We will use today’s situation as an opportunity to learn as we contemplate the fall reopening plan.”

The following letter was sent to parents Monday:

As you may or may not know, on July 6th, we opened two of our school buildings (Downey and WHS) for in-person instruction for about 100 students in our Extended School Year special education programs.

Today, we learned that one of the summer program staff members has tested positive for COVID-19. Though we communicated immediately with the families involved in the program, I want to communicate more broadly with the WPS community since this is the first time that we have experienced this situation.

In this case, the impacted staff member has permitted us to share some specific information so that the community can gain an understanding of what happened. The staff member began to feel ill on July 3rd before the program started. Given how she was feeling and that she was awaiting COVID test results, she did not report to work in alignment with our protocol. Over this past weekend, her medical provider informed her that her test result was negative. She was not symptomatic, was feeling fine, and was cleared by a doctor to return to work today. Unfortunately, while at work, she received another call from medical personnel informing her that, in fact, she had been misinformed and that her result is positive. She immediately notified her supervisor and went home.

The Westwood Public Health Department worked swiftly to begin contact tracing and communicate with the families of any students who may have been impacted. As of 6:30 this evening, any parents of students who were in known close contact with this employee have been notified. Fortunately, the employee was able to clearly articulate the safety and preventative measures on which she had been trained and confirm that she had assiduously adhered to them.

The School Department has closed the Downey building tomorrow so that we can implement the CDC cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

I thank the ESY program staff who are doing their best to keep both students and adults safe in a challenging context. We will use today’s situation as an opportunity to learn as we contemplate the fall reopening plan.

Sincerely,

Emily J. Parks

Superintendent

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