Webutuck reports first cases of COVID-19 in its schools

WEBUTUCK — One month after officially opening under a hybrid learning model, but nine months into the coronavirus pandemic, the North East (Webutuck) Central School District reported its first case of COVID-19 at Eugene Brooks Intermediate School (EBIS) on Friday, Nov. 6. The announcement prompted administrators to  close all school buildings and shift to a full remote learning model for all students. Days later, a second case was reported, this time at Webutuck Elementary School (WES).

At around 1:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani said the district was informed by EBIS nurse Charlie Davis, who was informed by a health provider, that there was an individual in the district who had tested positive for COVID-19. In order to protect the individual’s identity, Castellani was unable to confirm whether the person in question is a student, teacher or faculty member. Likewise, he did not have information about the test that confirmed the positive COIVD results.

Reacting quickly, Castellani said the district contacted the Dutchess County Department of Health (DOH), which guided it in terms of next steps and contact tracing. In turn, the district provided the DOH with all the individuals who would need to be contacted as part of that process. Given the small size of the district community and the amount of space shared between students, teachers and school buildings, Castellani said the DOH told the district it should look back to the date of when the individual would have last been in the district and when they would have shown any symptoms. The district was also advised to quarantine for 14 days.

In his letter to Webutuck families and staff, Castellani explained that in order to complete contact tracing for all students and staff and to ensure the virus doesn’t spread further, the district will be moving to a full remote learning model for all students in all buildings with an anticipated return to the hybrid learning model on Monday, Nov. 16. 

He notified families that students and staff exposed to the infected individuals would be contacted separately by a school officials and will be required to quarantine for 14 days from the date of their last exposure; those who were exposed would also be receiving a call from a state contact tracer. He also recommended that anyone who was potentially exposed to those individuals be tested for COVID-19 as a precaution.

Since the last person to be on campus was there on Friday,  Business Administrator Robert Farrier said the district will deep clean all school buildings to make sure the virus doesn’t spread.

“Our primary concern is the safety and wellbeing of our staff and students,” Farrier said. “Therefore, our reaction to this positive test really highlights in terms of closing all three schools and moving to remote to make sure we’re not having any more cases.”

“We feel that our measures that we have taken as a precaution in the first month of hybrid have been fantastic and we’ve been very lucky, so we’re going to keep doing what we’ve done and continue to work with the Department of Health and monitor,” Castellani said. “We’ve been fortunate due to what we put in place that we are one of the last districts with a positive case.”

When asked how concerned he was now that Webutuck has had its first COVID-19 case, Castellani replied, “I’m not afraid. I don’t think I’m anxious either. I think we are concerned as a school district, as a community, as a region, and we’re cautious in regards to we’re hoping just like every other human being around that this does make its way through and we can get through this together.”

On Monday morning, Nov. 9, just as the district began its full remote learning model for the week, Webutuck learned of another individual testing positive for COVID-19 at Webutuck Elementary School, resulting in its decision to push the return to the hybrid model to Tuesday, Nov. 17. In addition to working closely with the DOH to complete contact tracing, Webutuck families and staff were assured in Castellani’s most recent letter that the district is continuing to follow health protocols and will keep everyone informed of any updates.

“We’re monitoring this closely,” Castellani said, now that there’s a second case. “Because we’re such a small community, we want to make sure we try to isolate these incidents and it doesn’t spread, so we hope everybody continues to follow social guidelines and we can get through this quickly.”