It didn’t take long after schools reopened for a confirmed case of Covid-19 to show up in the classroom.
Westminster Community Charter School, which reopened with a hybrid model of learning on Sept. 1, has confirmed a student at the school has tested positive.
While new cases were inevitable with the majority of area schools reopening and returning in person this week, the case at Westminster would be among the first confirmed cases of the new school year.
Staff at the school, located in the city’s Kensington-Bailey neighborhood, were notified by Principal Robert Ross on Tuesday in a communication that was obtained by The Buffalo News.
“In the interest of transparency, following our re-entry plan we received a call from the Erie County Health Department regarding a positive case,” Ross wrote. “We are following all of the protocols of the CDC and Erie County Department of Health."
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Westminster, at 24 Westminster Ave., has a public-private partnership with M&T Bank, which adopted the school under former Chairman Robert Wilmers. Once part of the city school system, Westminster was converted to a charter school in the fall of 2004.
An M&T spokeswoman on Wednesday said the student has not been in school since Sept. 3, after a family member tested positive for Covid-19. The child later tested positive, as well, but was asymptomatic, the spokeswoman said. The Health Department notified the school on Tuesday.
"We immediately followed our established protocol," an M&T official said in a prepared statement. "School staff and parents within the classroom, which had fewer than 10 students, were notified and professional deep cleaning of the facility was conducted."
The other children in the same cohort with the student are currently quarantining and learning remotely from home while monitoring for any symptoms. Westminster, meanwhile, is proceeding with its plans for the school year.
Like most schools, Westminster offered parents a fully remote option during the Covid-19 pandemic or the choice of a hybrid model for students, with a mix of remote and in-person learning during the week.
Westminster enrolls 550 students in kindergarten through eighth grades, but only about 100 students are in the building at any one time amid the pandemic.
"As we proceed through our re-entry plan we are closely following all protocols in place by the CDC and Erie County Department of Health – with the safety of our students, faculty and parents our utmost priority,” the statement from M&T read.
A spokeswoman for the Erie County Health Department said it does not confirm Covid-19 cases unless there is concern about exposure to the public.
New York State, meanwhile, has set up a dashboard to keep track of Covid-19 cases in K-12 schools. The dashboard can be viewed at schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov and will go live as soon as reports come in to the state.
