Cape district posts COVID-19 case data on website

As of Jan. 13, Cape Henlopen School District began reporting weekly positive student and staff COVID-19 cases and related staff quarantines online.

Superintendent Bob Fulton said he had been announcing case data at monthly school board meetings, and wanted to document case numbers on the district website as well. Information at capehenlopenschools.com under the COVID-19 tab reflects the previous week’s data. 

For the week of Jan. 18-24, the district reported seven student and six staff positive cases and eight staff quarantines, a decrease in cases from Jan. 11-17, which saw 17 student and eight staff positive cases and three staff quarantines. For Jan. 4-10, the district reported three student and two positive staff cases and two staff quarantines.

District officials said they anticipated a bump in numbers after the holiday season, which they expect to now decrease after the holidays and in conjunction with community vaccine distribution.

Quarantined staff numbers are documented, Fulton said, because Gov. John Carney recommended Dec. 3 that schools with significant staffing issues could revert to remote instruction from Dec. 14 through Jan. 8. 

Due to a lack of substitutes, Fulton said, Cape paused hybrid learning Dec. 18, 21 and 22, when all students participated remotely. Other districts stayed in remote learning longer, or opened under a hybrid model for the first time Jan. 11, Fulton said.

Since the beginning of January, 20 new substitutes have been brought on board to increase coverage, and service aides and additional supports have been provided to staff, Fulton said.

Student quarantine numbers are not posted because student quarantines don’t impact operations, Fulton said. The number of student absences is about the same as last year, he said.

In some cases, entire classrooms have had to quarantine, Fulton said, and none of the district's quarantined students or staff have tested positive. Quarantined students participate in asynchronous and synchronous remote learning while at home, Assistant Superintendent Jenny Nauman said.

Parents and staff should continue to use the health assessment screening tool that was distributed to families and posted at capehenlopenschools.com before reporting to school each day, Nauman said.

“Students and staff are doing their part; they’re doing the right thing,” Nauman said. “We learn and get better every day, and our goal is always to do what’s best for our students. We’re lucky to have a great team.” 

Delaware Public Health posts in-person cases for district, charter and private schools at myhealthycommunity.com, and lists a total of 669 staff members and 750 students have tested positive from Sept. 1, 2020 through Jan. 22, 2021, the most recent data available.

At Cape schools, 34 staff members and 51 students have tested positive for the same time period, according to DPH, which also reported 3,840 students attend Cape district schools in-person.

At Carney’s Jan. 5 news conference, DPH Director Karyl Rattay said national studies and data gathered in Delaware show that COVID-19 is primarily spread in uncontrolled activities outside schools, not in them. 

“We're just not really seeing spread in the school setting,” she said.

Vaccines for educators

DPH and Delaware Department of Education are leading the vaccination plan for school staff, who are in Phase 1B of distribution. 

Fulton said he pushed for Cape schools, which have been operating in-person since Sept. 16, to have priority in receiving the vaccine over districts which began in-person instruction as late as Jan. 11, but said that would not likely be granted.

Due to a limited supply, vaccine distribution will be prioritized in three stages based on age, medical issues and working conditions, according to DOE. 

Stage 1 individuals include those over age 65 who have high- or medium-risk chronic medical conditions and who work with special populations.

Stage 2 individuals interact directly with students and/or the public within a school building or the community, and stage 3 individuals are those who are working from home and did not have prior access to the vaccine. 

Educators pre-registered for the vaccine Jan. 26, DOE spokesperson Alison May said, and of those who pre-registered, invitations were sent Jan. 27 to 1,000 people in Stage 1 to register for 1,000 slots at four vaccination events being held Jan. 28-31.

Fulton said he offered Cape schools as vaccination locations for educators and that initial vaccination events will be by appointment for educators only.