EAST BRUNSWICK–Superintendent Victor Valeski has announced that two high school students have self-reported being in “close contact” with individuals who tested positive for COVID-19.
“Earlier this morning we had two separate high school student self-reports with ‘close contact’ of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 outside of school. Close contact is defined by the Centers for Disease Control as being less than 6 feet from a person testing positive for COVID-19 for 15 minutes or longer,” Valeski said in a prepared statement on Sept. 11.
Following the district’s protocol, Valeski said the students have moved to virtual learning until their 14-day quarantine periods expire.
All East Brunswick Public Schools staff who had contact with these students this past Tuesday and Wednesday have been notified.
“We believe the risk in these cases is minimal but we treat each case like these with the highest degree of caution. Again, there is no report of any student testing positive for COVID-19. These are two independent self-reported close contacts,” Valeski said in the statement.
“Another reason for my communication is to reinforce that self-reporting is working and if we build a culture that promotes immediate notification of any close contact, we will have the capacity to keep our entire school district population safer … and that means we can keep our schools open. This directly impacts our ability to begin to consolidate cohorts and bring more students into schools when state guidance and science permits us to do so,” he said in the statement.
As the district completes its first week, Valeski thanked everyone for supporting the district’s collective efforts to reopen East Brunswick schools.
“As I visit schools I see everyone following the plan we created. That makes me proud and as a community, you should be proud too because you are integral partners in our continued success,” Valeski said in the statement. “Help us by being vigilant over the weekend and into next week. Early notification of close contacts equals a safer school environment.”