Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 11:13:14 AM EDT
Subject: COVID-19 Update #4 - Positive Result in Our Community
Happy Sunday MS 839 Families,
I'm writing to you with some difficult news. Yesterday a parent of one of our students tested
positive for COVID-19. I've been waiting for over 24 hours for central DOE to give us
further guidance on communication with families and next steps, but we still have not
received any. I have been instructed to not send out any communicates to you but at this
point, I felt it was urgent and the interest of public health to share this information. I want
you to know that many of our advocates at the district and Borough level have been
constantly advocating for us but to no avail.
In all likelihood, the DOE will announce that our school was deep cleaned and
disinfected over the weekend and school will remain open tomorrow. I am not a public
health expert by any means, but I believe this is entirely insufficient and will put students
and their families further at risk. I suspect we will not know the true scope of the problem
and how it is impacting individual school communities until testing becomes more widely
available.
As of 11am Sunday, 12 of our teachers and 6 out of classroom personnel have called out
sick or cannot risk attending school because they are in close contact with family members
in the high risk category. I will be at school tomorrow and we will have a skeleton crew to
help support your children if they need to be in school. We realize this is the only option for
some families and will do our best to take good care of your child and continue taking all
necessary precautions.
I want to repeat that there will be no consequences or repercussions whatsoever for
students whose families choose to keep them at home. You will be making it easier for us to
support those students who truly need the place to be.
Stay Healthy and Safe.
Best,
Michael