Colonial Heights Public Schools (CHPS) sent out a message to families on Sunday night announcing that one of their three elementary schools will be immediately transitioning to a fully-virtual school schedule for all students after multiple positive COVID-19 tests.
After alerting families on Friday of a positive test at Lakeview Elementary, officials gave an update on Sunday saying that they have been notified of additional positive cases at the school.
“Colonial Heights Public Schools is informing parents and guardians out of an abundance of caution and transparency that additional COVID-19 cases have been reported at Lakeview Elementary School,” said CHPS in a release. “As a safety precaution, Lakeview Elementary will transition from in-person instruction to all virtual instruction beginning on Monday, October 26th. Students will not report to the building tomorrow. The school will contact families of students who may have been exposed.”
CHPS offered a five-day-a-week option for families this year along with a fully-virtual option. All schools have remained open to in-person students until this week when Lakeview was shut down.
At a meeting on Tuesday, October 27th, officials said that there were three cases in the school, although they did not indicate if the three cases were students on staff.
In an interview on Thursday with Petersburg Scope, CHPS Superintendent William Sroufe said that they have not had any additional positive cases at Lakeview Elementary beyond the three cases they announced earlier this week.
According to Sroufe, the first two positive cases were located in different learning zones within the school. Additionally, after contact tracing, they realized that some individuals were moving from zone-to-zone, which led to them shutting down the building on Sunday.
While noting they are still waiting to get all of the test results back, Sroufe said it appears that the source of the positive cases at the school came from outside of the building.
The school system has not committed to a return date for Lakeview students yet. Sroufe says they want to ensure that all tests come back negative and also provide everyone potentially affected by the virus with enough time to quarantine before returning to the building.
Lakeview teachers were allowed to enter the building on Monday morning to get their equipment and teaching supplies, they were also given Tuesday free to plan and prepare before teaching their classes virtually on Wednesday,
Officials also announced that the school will be cleaned deeply prior to election day, making it available for voters.
“The safety of our students, staff, and community is a top priority, and we will continue to be transparent while following VDH guidance for each unique situation,” said CHPS officials. “We urge families to continue to be diligent about wearing masks in public, handwashing, and social distancing.”
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