January 25, 2021
Dear Independence Local Schools’ Families,
I want to inform you that over the weekend we received information that a fourth-grade student from Independence Primary School and a sixth-grade student from Independence Middle School tested positive for COVID-19. The primary school student was last in school Tuesday, January 19. The student started showing symptoms days later and was not in school during the contact tracing window, meaning there are no close contacts. The middle school student was also not in school during the contact tracing window, with the last day of school attendance being Friday, January 15. There are six middle school student close contacts who are in a quarantine period due to potential exposure at a recreation league practice.
With every school-based positive test, we work closely with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and anyone identified as a close contact is notified by the school administrators as a part of COVID-19 investigation. Close contacts are individuals who have been within six feet for 15 minutes or more within a 24 hour period with the person who tested positive. If close contacts are in classroom and/or school bus settings, they do not need to quarantine. In these situations, we had close contacts but all were within the masked classroom setting.
Cleaning and disinfecting of all buildings will continue to be completed.
If you have any questions, contact Tom Dreiling at 216/642-5852, me at 216/642-5850, or the Cuyahoga County Board of Health at 216/201-2000. Thank you for helping to keep people safe and to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community and school.
For answers to your COVID-19 questions, call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634) or visit coronavirus.ohio.gov. Resources from the CDC include:
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. If you or a loved one are experiencing anxiety related to the coronavirus pandemic, help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call the COVID-19 CareLine at 1-800-720-9616.
Sincerely,
Ben Hegedish
Superintendent
Independence Local Schools
