A sign outside Red Bank Regional on Tuesday. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At least 58 students and teachers at Red Bank Regional High are now in quarantine over concern about COVID-19, Superintendent Lou Moore disclosed late Friday.
The total, which includes 55 students and three staff members, marks a sharp increase to close out a week that began with one student testing positive and the cancellation of in-person learning for two days.
Here’s the full statement, addressed to “families and students,” posted on the school website Friday night:
We are getting back to the “new normal’ with the resumption of in-person instruction and athletic practices. Overall I am proud of our response to the first positive report of a COVID-19 case this school year at RBR. We quickly identified close contacts, did our best to maintain open lines of communication, and worked closely with the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission to break the spread of the virus.
Unfortunately at least 55 students and 3 staff members were directed to self-quarantine until Friday, October 9 to minimize transmission risks. This is a burden that is not imposed lightly but I believe it is the right thing to do, both to protect our school community and also to avoid additional disruptions to our academic and athletic programs.
I will continue to do my best and I am glad that our school Pandemic Response Team met today under the capable leadership of Assistant Principal Robert Donohoe to provide feedback and advice. Thanks again to everyone this week for doing your part to keep us safe and on course in difficult seas. Have a restful weekend.
On Monday, Moore disclosed that one unidentified student, a ninth-grader, had tested positive for COVID-19 last weekend, prompting a cancellation of classes and sports activities the following day.
Heading into a school reopening on Thursday, that student and a sibling were in quarantine. In addition, eight others who came in contact with a non-RBR student who tested positive for COVID-19 were “excluded from in-person programs and extracurricular activities until October 12,” Moore wrote Wednesday.
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