Jersey City public schools hit with first cases of coronavirus since reopening – NJ.com

The Jersey City school district was hit with its first confirmed coronavirus cases of the new school year after returning to full days of in-person learning just a few days ago.

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Norma Fernandez said there were confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Schools 15, 28, 23 and the Anthony Infante Early Childhood Center. She said four students, two of whom are siblings, and a staff member had caught the virus.

Fernandez said all four schools are still operational for in-person learning.

It is a very scary situation for parents we are posting something on the (schools) website to explain how the process works, Fernandez said. What we would like for parents to know is to please, if they have questions, to reach out to their (school) nurses, who are the best people to explain it for them.

If their child was a direct contact, was in the class and could be a possible contact, the nurses will reach out to them specifically. If it is a child in the building, they will just get a letter.

Fernandez said in most cases, the individuals were not in school when they had symptoms, but when contact tracing is done, they go back two days before the onset.

She could not identify specifically how the individuals were diagnosed with COVID as it is handled by the school nurse and the district nurse.

I cant speak to how, in most instances, they either came down with the symptoms or they notified the school nurse that they were sick and tested positive, Fernandez said.

Fernandez said Jersey Citys schools will only close during an outbreak, which is determined by the city health department. She said for the school building to be considered for remote learning, at least three non-related students or staff must be confirmed by a lab to be positive for the coronavirus within 14 days.

A letter went out to parents at the four schools on Sunday to notify them of the confirmed case at their childrens school.

Parents of students at some of the schools voiced their frustration on the Jersey City Public School parents Facebook page.

My issue is that parents of students in the classroom were not notified it was a student in their childs class, one parent posted. This is completely unacceptable.

Kids in the same classroom are exposed and it should be shared with every parent in the classroom, not just those in close contact because there is no way some district nurse is going to know who that child came in close contact within the classroom.

Board of Education President Mussab Ali said he understands the situation is tough for parents, but there were expectations this could and likely would happen.

I would urge people just to be a little patient, Ali said. The reality is we have 30,000 students in our district (and) the numbers are on the side that there will be a couple of cases that end up happening in our district. That is just unavoidable. There is nowhere to go where there wont be cases.

Jersey City public schools 30,000 students returned for a full day of learning for the first time since schools closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 on Sept. 9.

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Jersey City public schools hit with first cases of coronavirus since reopening - NJ.com