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Date: 3/11/2020
SOUTHWICK – The Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District (STGRSD) has instituted a series of measures, including the cancellation of a wide range of school-sponsored events, in response to the threat of coronavirus (COVID-19).
On March 11, a day after Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, STGRSD Superintendent Jennifer Willard sent a letter to parents informing them of the augmented public health precautions being taken by the district.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 92 cases of COVID-19 – one confirmed and 91 presumptive positive – including seven in Berkshire County as of March 10.
“This morning, our administrative team met with Tammy Spencer, the health director for the Southwick Board of Health, and Marcia Lamoureaux, STGRSD lead nurse, to review best practices,” she said. “It is important to note that the COVID-19 outbreak is a fluid situation, and plans put in place today may have to change tomorrow based on updated guidelines.”
Effective immediately and until further notice, the district will cancel or postpone all field trips with out-of-state destinations or to venues of more than 50 people. This is in accordance with the wishes of Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeff Riley, who strongly urged all districts to cancel all out-of-state travel.
In addition, any school gathering that would exceed 50 people, including the Southwick Regional School’s Pops Concert and the Powder Mill School Spring Fling, first grade play and drama performance.
Parent-teacher conferences slated for March 12 would take place, however, “an
alternate plan for the high school conferences will be communicated to those families by Principal Joseph Turmel.” Additionally, school staff would engage in “safe social distance practices” such as avoiding hand shaking and keeping larger than usual person space. Those who do not feel well or recently traveled internationally were advised not to attend and to set up a phone conference or reschedule.
Willard also indicated spring sports tryouts would continue as scheduled on Monday and any adjustments would be based on guidance from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
DESE will host a conference call for superintendents statewide on March 12 at which time further adjustments might be required.
On March 10, in coordination with Baker’s emergency declaration, DESE announced it would provide local schools with relief from attendance and school year requirements so that schools have the flexibility to make decisions on temporary closures due to coronavirus concerns. School districts will not be required to be in session past their scheduled 185th day or be in session after June 30. DESE will also disregard attendance data after March 2 when assessing district's chronic absenteeism for the 2019-20 school year.
According to the CDC, symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath may occur within two to 14 days following exposure to COVID-19. Reported cases have ranged from mild to severe, including some resulting in death. While most have been mild, a report out of China suggested serious illness occurs in 16 percent of cases. Older people and people with certain underlying health conditions like heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, for example, seem to be at greater risk of serious illness.
Willard continued to advise utilizing basic sanitary precautions for preventing the spread of flu or other illnesses, including proper handwashing and sanitizing, avoiding touching eyes, noses or mouths with unwashed hands, covering hands and noses with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing, and avoiding close contact with those who are sick whenever possible.
She also stressed the importance of keeping children home from school when they are sick, especially if they exhibit a temperature of 100.4 degrees, coughing, vomiting and diarrhea, undiagnosed rashes, red or pink itchy eyes, drainage from eyes and any contagious illness such as chickenpox, strep throat or flu.
Children should stay home until they are feeling well and fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.