News Release                                                                     September 15, 2020

The Monroe County School District considers the health and well-being of its children and staff to be of the utmost importance. School officials continue to work in close contact with public health officials to ensure everyone's safety.

On Monday, September 14th, school officials were alerted to a Mary Persons High School student who has been diagnosed with Covid-19. The student was in attendance late last week but is now isolating at home. As has been done in the past, and following pre-established protocols, school officials have worked with the Department of Public Health (DPH) to determine any students and staff who had been in close contact with the student while at school.

On the same day, in unrelated, separate situations, two teachers at Mary Persons High School notified administrators that they had tested positive for Covid-19. The same protocols were followed and the teachers are isolating at home.  It was determined that no students had been in close contact with these teachers.

Under DPH guidelines, close contact includes being within six feet of the person with Covid-19 for 15 minutes or more.  Parents of students determined to have been in close contact with the affected student have been notified by school officials.  As a precaution, parents are being asked to quarantine those students at home for a specified period of time. Appropriate information from public health has been provided to the parents as guidance.

Superintendent Dr. Mike Hickman reiterated that school staff members have planned for and prepared well to handle these situations.  "We continue to closely follow the guidance of our local and regional public health officials," said Dr. Hickman. "Our first and primary goal is and always will be to maintain the safety and health of our students and our staff, along with their families."