Chatham School District Releases Coronavirus Data Dashboard

CHATHAM, NJ — The School District of the Chathams created a coronavirus dashboard to highlight case totals in each school, officials said at Monday's Board of Education meeting. At the meeting, teachers, administrators and board members pushed a message to families to be careful and honest about exposure.

The district plans to update the dashboard each time they receive notice of a new case in the school community, according to Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa. Officials learn about cases from parents, staff and health officials. But sometimes that might mean a delay in learning about positive results.

"This is an imperfect science," he said, "because we are not administering tests or receiving results directly from people regarding tests."

Here's what the dashboard says as of Tuesday afternoon:

All Chatham schools remain open except the high school, which is closed until Dec. 16 because of new cases following the Thanksgiving break. Read more: Chatham High To Go Remote For 2 Weeks After 7 New COVID Cases

The high school and middle school are more vulnerable to temporary closures, according to Board President Jill Critchley Weber.

"In the high school and middle school, if a student comes in and they test positive or a sibling came home from college, one student could impact five teachers," she said. "If five teachers have to go home and quarantine, that can impact 400 students."

The Chatham Education Association had asked for several months for the district to create a coronavirus dashboard. The organization's co-presidents also delivered a message for people to keep their students home if they show symptoms or may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Betsy Yates-Long says she heard that some children with a family members who has COVID-19 have been sent back to school. Lori Noonan has heard about people coming to school while showing symptoms or awaiting test results.

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"Social events that include more households than is reasonable are occurring on weekends and being posted on social media," Noonan said.

Weber said she agreed with their message and that schools can't remain open without people working together.

This also reiterated a message DeSusa sent last week that not everyone had been forthcoming after Thanksgiving break about symptoms or exposure. But DeSusa told Patch on Monday that almost everyone complies.

"The overwhelming majority of our parents are doing everything possible to help us keep our schools open," he said.

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