Moorestown School Board Discusses Evolving Response To Pandemic

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The William Allen Middle School is in a full-remote learning environment after multiple cases of the coronavirus were identified in the school, Moorestown Public School District officials said this week.

It will remain full-remote through Jan. 22. All other schools in the district remain in a hybrid learning environment. The Jan. 22 reopen date is based on when the first case was reported, Superintendent of Schools Scott McCartney said during Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting.

Overall, there are 10 students and three staff members in the district who are currently positive for the coronavirus, McCartney said. Many of the students were already learning remotely before they tested positive, although he didn’t provide an exact number.

McCartney discussed the district’s changing response to the pandemic during the meeting, calling the coronavirus pandemic an “underlying condition that the district deals with day after day” that often occupies a large portion of the day.

“Our nurses are diligently working to address potential positives and the residual effects of those positives,” McCartney said. “We know this is hugely disruptive for families. Anybody being positive is scary and intimidating.”

He said those positive cases lead to more in-depth conversations, and there are four reasons members of the school community can be quarantined.

One reason is if they have recently traveled, which he called the district’s biggest challenge in January.

“When we first came back to school (after the holiday break), we had 117 students quarantine because of traveling,” McCartney said. “That number is now down to 70, and we should start to see it get smaller over the next week.”

They are also quarantined if they are exposed to someone who has tested positive. Fifty-nine students are currently quarantined because of this.

They are also quarantined if they are showing two or more symptoms of the coronavirus, or if they are exposed to someone who is symptomatic.

Typically, quarantines last 14 days. Students who are tested and are negative can return to school, but district officials need a specific diagnosis from anyone who is showing symptoms before allowing them to return.

“I have heard that some people are not reporting,” McCartney said. “We encourage folks to report. It helps us stay informed and helps us dispel any rumors.”

The district continues to work on ways to ensure students in the hybrid model who are quarantined receive home instruction.

He also said the Moorestown Public School District is in contact with the other schools in the town and the county, so they are aware of everything that is happening in the area.

When it comes to siblings, the district begins its contact tracing measures with a positive student’s brothers and sisters who are also in the district. Many times, those siblings will also end up being quarantined.

“One case can take several hours or multiple days to investigate,” McCartney said. “Our nurses are doing an outstanding job with that.”