NEW PALESTINE — Officials with the Southern Hancock School District announced Saturday evening, they’ll be shutting down one of their schools due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Wes Anderson, Community Relations Director said they received reports of six new cases at the high school Saturday, Nov. 7 crossing the threshold of set safety measures causing officials to shutdown the school until Thanksgiving break slated for the week of Nov. 23.
“At this time, evidence exists to suggest that community spread has occurred at school,” Anderson said in a press release.
Contact tracing has been completed related to the cases. If family members have not been notified by the corporation nurse as of yet, it means those students were not identified as a close contact with any of the positive cases.
The closure means NPHS will switch to virtual learning immediately for two weeks. However, additional cases or changes in Hancock County’s COVID-19 dashboard data may require the virtual learning period to be extended. Students at NPHS are currently scheduled to return to class Monday, Nov. 30. The ISTEP+ testing scheduled for the upcoming week will be postponed. Extracurricular activities will continue until further notice.
All other CSCSHC schools will remain in-person until further notice.
“We encourage all families across the corporation to prepare for virtual or hybrid learning if positive cases increase, (or) a community spread occurs,” Anderson said.
Families should have a plan for the potential of changes to the school schedule on short notice.
