Stratford School Staffer Tests Positive For Coronavirus
STRATFORD, CT — A Stratford school employee tested positive for the coronavirus the same week students returned to the classroom.
The staff member at Second Hill Lane School was tested Monday after visiting a family member Friday who had tested positive for the virus, according to Superintendent Janet Robinson.
“That member is quarantined, but was no threat to school,” Robinson said in an email Thursday. “She was never in school after exposure.”
The school year started Wednesday in Stratford, with most students enrolled in a hybrid model, spending two days per week in the classroom and three days learning remotely.
“I appreciate that the district is consulting with the Department of Public Health regarding the health and safety of students and staff, and of course I hope for the full and speedy recovery of the member of our school community,” Stratford Education Association President Mike Fiorello said in an email Thursday.
Teachers union members demonstrated their apprehension about safety supplies and protocols Tuesday by wearing matching red shirts to school, according to Facebook posts from the association. The union was concerned that the alcohol wipes they were given were not CDC-approved, and that some teachers were provided commercial face shields, while others got handmade shields, according to the Connecticut Education Association.
“The district promised they would provide us with CDC approved cleaning supplies and PPE,” said Kristen Record, a Bunnell High School physics teacher and the Stratford union’s vice president, in a post on the state education association website. “Students are now back in our classrooms and we have not been provided with the supplies promised to us.”
According to Robinson, the alcohol wipes teachers received are approved by the state health department and sturdier face shields have been ordered and are on the way. Every classroom has hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes or spray, and all recommendations have been followed, she said.
“There is no basis for their complaints,” Robinson said.
This article originally appeared on the Stratford Patch
