Greenwich Students Return To School, Coronavirus Cases Steady

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich Public Schools students returned to in-person learning this week after going fully remote for the week following the holiday recess.

In December, the district announced the decision to go fully remote during this week and noted it would allow time for families and staff members to get tested for the coronavirus before returning to school buildings Monday.

"I can tell you that our students and staff seem genuinely excited to be back to school this week," district spokesperson Jonathan Supranowitz said Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, a tracker on the district website indicates 23 cases of the virus were reported during the holiday recess (Dec. 23-Jan. 3) and 25 cases were reported during the fully remote week (Jan. 4-8). (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

A second tracker that records numbers of cases reported on a week-by-week basis paints a slightly different picture however, with the the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 5 following Thanksgivingremaining the week with the highest number of reported cases at 36.

The week-by-week tacker also indicates the following figures for the time period between Dec. 20 and Jan. 9:

• Dec. 20-26: 27
• Dec. 27-Jan. 2: 14
• Jan. 3-Jan. 9: 26

The week-by-week tracker also indicates 19 cases have been reported this week as of Wednesday.

Supranowitz said the district's week-by-week numbers have remained "relatively consistent" since November, with some fluctuations.

"We constantly monitor the health situation at GPS and appreciate our families' diligent reporting of positive cases and exposures to their principals and school nurses," Supranowitz said. "This allows us to consistently keep our district's COVID-19 tracker updated twice per week. Before the holiday recess, and immediately afterwards, we reminded all families to follow the state's travel protocols closely."

Board of Education chair Peter Bernstein said a slight bump in case numbers around the holiday break was "certainly not unexpected" after the increase the district saw around Thanksgiving.

"The Superintendent [Toni Jones] continues to work closely with the health department and medical professionals in monitoring the situation," Bernstein said, "and ensure that we have the proper mitigation protocols in place."

Kathleen Stowe, the board's vice-chair, said the 19 cases added thus far this week is "completely within" what would be expected.

"Of course the superintendent and her team continue to work diligently with the health professionals to monitor the situation," Stowe said.

The numbers recorded around the holiday break do still remain larger than numbers reported at the beginning of the school year, when the district reported its first case of the virus the week of Sept. 27-Oct.3. The district did not report double digits until the first week of November, during which 22 cases were recorded.