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East Hampton High School made the decision Wednesday, January 5, to go fully remote Thursday and Friday — and possibly next week — due to the uptick is COVID-19 positive cases and quarantines due to close contact.
“There’s not a hard-and-fast number, because there’s so many moving parts, however, we just were not comfortable with our total number of cases both staff and students,” High School Principal Sara Smith said January 6. “All of our students are going to their normal classes virtually today, and tomorrow if we don’t have snow.”
Superintendent Adam Fine sent an email to parents Wednesday afternoon notifying them of the decision. Administration will reassess the situation Saturday, January 8, and notify the community as to whether the school will reopen next week.
“It is my hope that this short break will allow our staff to get well and curb the spread that seems to be occurring in our high school community,” Fine said.
Students are currently logging into virtual classrooms via Google Meet. Even if a teacher or student is out due to coronavirus infection or close contact with someone that has tested positive, he or she has the choice to teach or attend class if he or she is feeling well enough.
During Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, Fine, who is out with COVID-19 himself, said he did not believe the district was going to have to close school, telling some callers during public comment that the high school and elementary school were on the cusp of needing to go remote, but that numbers were projecting downward. The high school reported 26 new cases on January 5 — 22 students, three teachers and one other staff member — bringing the total numbers infected to 77 students, 17 teachers and seven staff members over the last seven days.
Smith said tutoring will remain available for those students unable to attend class. The state guarantees anyone out on quarantine 10 hours of extra help, but the principal said a student will never be turned down should he or she need more attention.
