Magdalena Municipal School District

 

With the first week of the semester, the Magdalena School District also reported its first COVID-19 case of the semester.

The school district alerted families that a staff member at their facility or a child who attends their school had tested positive for COVID-19 via a letter. The district reported two positive COVID-19 tests, said Superintendent Dr. Glen Haven. There were no positive student tests on school grounds or in quarantine at the school, said Haven.

“That’s all we are allowed to report,” said Haven.

The district will investigate who may have been in close contact with “the infected individual,” according to an August 13 letter alerting families there was a positive case. Families have been calling the school asking for the identity of the person who tested positive, which the school cannot release, said Haven.

The letter states that areas where the person who tested positive spent time will be cleaned and anyone who was a close contact will be notified. Families are encouraged to keep sending their child to school unless they’re notified the child was a close contact of someone with COVID, the child develops symptoms or has a positive COVID-19 test.

The Magdalena School Board passed a finalized re-entry plan at a special board meeting on August 2, the week before the semester began, which included following the CDC’s “Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools”. The current CDC guidance includes universal indoor masking and social distancing of at least three feet. The district has also upgraded its HVAC system for better air quality. The re-entry plan is available on the district’s website.

According to the reentry plan, over 70 percent of the district’s staff is fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

“We’re following the guidelines that have been given to us and we’re trying to keep our kids as safe as we can,” said Haven.

Cathy Cook, El Defensor Chieftain