A Montezuma-Cortez Middle School student or staff member tested positive for COVID-19 this week, causing the entire seventh grade and its teachers to go into quarantine.
The school district learned about the COVID-19 case Sept. 30.
The middle school has avoided mixing grades for lunch or classes, so the district decided it was necessary to quarantine the seventh grade only, based on guidance from the Montezuma County Public Health Department, Lori Haukeness, superintendent of Montezuma-Cortez schools, told The Journal in a phone interview Friday.
The district gave the middle school’s student and staff roster to the health department, which “looks at the specific case and decides who could be quarantined or who could continue in person,” Haukeness said.
“Anyone who has had close contact with the individual who was diagnosed is required to quarantine,” according to a spokesperson for the school district on its Facebook page. “Depending on the situation this may include students, teachers, counselors, administrators or other staff.”
Based on the guidance from the county Health Department, the school district quarantined all 112 in-person students in the seventh grade class for two weeks starting Oct. 1, along with 13 teachers and three support staff.
The students will transition to online learning through the Zoom and Google classroom platforms with their original teachers.
“The health and safety of students and staff is at the forefront,” Haukeness said.
The school district hired an additional custodian for each school to ensure extensive cleaning, she said.
A few parents expressed concerns about the sixth and eighth grade students, and whether they had been exposed to the virus since there are staff members that interact with all grade levels.
When the Mancos School District had a COVID-19 case in early September, the district sent its entire student body home for a week of online learning. Five middle school teachers and about 75 students were required to quarantine for 14 days.
Because the Mancos K-12 schools are on the same city block, students from all grade levels were at risk, according to guidelines provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Superintendent Brian Hanson said.
In the Montezuma-Cortez School District, school buildings are in separate locations in the city. And the middle school is set up with each grade is in its own section of the building, Haukeness said.
“We know which students are in activities or ride the bus,” a spokesperson wrote on the school district’s Facebook page. The school district also keeps visitor logs, and specialized teachers or support staff members that work with multiple students from different classes keep logs of their time in the schools.
These logs help the Montezuma County Public Health Department with contact tracing.
The school will be doing extensive cleaning in common areas, and will be deep cleaning the seventh grade section while the seventh grade students are in temporary online learning.
ehayes@the-journal.com