Weeks after returning to the classroom after schools were shut down last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some Connecticut school districts have sent students back home due to cases of the virus.
As cases pop up among students and school staff members, some schools are closing and switching to remote learning while others are staying open and sending small groups home to quarantine.
Enfield
Enfield High School will be closed for in-person learning on Thursday, Sept. 24, and Friday Sept. 25 after someone in the school community tested positive for COVID-19. Students are being asked to follow a remote learning schedule for both days. More information can be found here.
Fairfield
Fairfield First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said there are six positive cases tied to the high school community - five at Fairfield Ludlowe High School and one at Fairfield Prep.
The infected individuals are all currently in isolation.
Fairfield Ludlowe will be closed for two days due to the positive tests.
During contact tracing, the health department discovered there were at least six gatherings over the weekend of high school students that may have led to these cases. Four of the events were attended by students who then tested positive for the virus.
Coronavirus in Connecticut
Bridgeport
The Paul Lawrence Dunbar School in Bridgeport will be closed for in-person learning through Sept. 29, according to the district website. All classes will be remote during that time.
Colchester
There was no online learning on Tuesday so teachers could prepare for remote learning.
Three staff members at Colchester Elementary School have tested positive for COVID-19 and other staff and some students who came in contact with them have been quarantined, Superintendent Jeffrey Burt said in a post on the school district's website on Monday.
The school said it plans to reopen on Oct. 5, if it is safe to do so.
East Lyme
East Lyme High School was closed on Tuesday after the district learned someone at the school tested positive for COVID-19.
The infected person was last in the building on Sept. 14, according to a letter from the superintendent posted on the district's website.
The closure will allow time for the Ledge Light Health District to complete contact tracing surrounding the case, the superintendent said.
Farmington
The school district notified families last Tuesday that person at Farmington High School tested positive for COVID-19, according to the superintendent.
The person will remain home and all students and staff who had close contact with that individual will also quarantine at home for 14 days. Those students and staff will continue distance learning while at home.
Hamden
Helen Street School in Hamden has had a case of COVID-19.
Supt. Jody Goeler notified families that a staff member at Helen Street School has tested positive for coronavirus. Anyone who was in “close contact” is being contacted and given instructions on steps to take. Goeler said students and staff members who have not been in close contact are able to remain in school.
Hartford
The Hartford School District said in a statement that there have been several confirmed COVID-19 cases and they are working closely with the city's health department to follow protocol and inform families.
Noah Webster Microsociety Magnet School was closed through Tuesday, Sept. 22 to allow for further contact tracing, the school district said.
"Positive cases remain low in Hartford County but we must all remain vigilant to keep our students, teachers, and staff healthy and safe," Superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said in a statement.
Hartford Public Schools announced two cases of COVID-19 in the community last Monday morning.
A student at Weaver High School tested positive for COVID-19 and through contract tracing, four students were determined to have come in close contact, the district said. The four students in close contact will have to self-quarantine at home for 14 days. In-person classes are continuing at the school.
On Sept. 11, Bellizzi Middle School's principal announced a community partner who was in the building tested positive. The person was asymptomatic before testing positive and was advised to quarantine at home. Through contract tracing, the district notified two staff members and a student of close contact and asked them to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.
Hebron
A person who works in a support capacity for Hebron schools has tested positive for coronavirus, according to school superintendent Thomas Baird.
The individual was last at Hebron Elementary School and Gilead Hill School on September 15, Baird said. The person will remain in self-isolation for 10 days.
The district and Chatham Health determined that no students or staff were at risk for exposure to the virus in connection to the case.
Litchfield
Litchfield Public Schools was all remote on Friday after officials learned that several students across multiple schools had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
School officials said the students attended a non-school event, which led to prolonged exposure with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Those who are directly affected were being notified as part of contact tracing efforts.
Manchester
A cohort of students and staff at Waddell Elementary School in Manchester were asked last week to self-quarantine after a second-grade student reported symptoms of COVID-19.
Meriden
A student who attends Maloney High School in Meriden tested positive for COVID-19, city officials confirmed last Tuesday.
That student also attended a rally in Hartford calling for the CIAC to allow a fall football season.
New Britain
New Britain has several confirmed COVID-19 cases within the school district.
The Pulaski Middle School continues to be all remote learning on Wednesday after two members of the school community tested positive for COVID-19. These people were last in the building on Friday.
One case involves a person at New Britain High School and the other involves someone at Slade Middle School, according to a release from the district.
The New Britain Public Health Department determined neither or the schools nor any of the classrooms will need to be closed, the release said.
New Canaan
In New Canaan, 53 students are quarantining at home after four classmates tested positive for coronavirus. The students who are quarantining were determined to have close contact with the students who tested positive. Those four students are not included in the quarantine count, according to the superintendent. A staff member at the high school is also in quarantine.
Three of the four cases at the high school appear to be connected through youth sports activities, according to the superintendent.
A staff member at West Elementary School is quarantining as well. It was not clear why that person is in quarantine.
North Branford
School officials said administrators were notified that a member of the North Branford High School community tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and immediate action was taken to isolate, perform contact tracing and notify anyone who was in close contact with this person.
Simsbury
A support staff member at Simsbury High School tested positive for COVID-19. After determining that the staff member had no close contacts while working at the school, the district determined the school can remain open.
Southington
Southington High School moved all classes to remote learning on Monday after a person tested positive for COVID-19.
The school district said the last contact in school was on Tuesday, Sept. 15 so the positive test affects Cohort A students and staff.
Students and staff who are identified as a close contact will be contacted within 24 hours. Those who don't receive a close contact notification are not believed to be at risk, the school district said.
Trumbull
Hillcrest Middle School is closed to all students because of a case of COVID-19 and school will be remote while the school is closed.
Students in Cohort B will be able to re-enter the building on Thursday, Oct. 1, according to a statement from the principal.
Wallingford
Parents were notified by the superintendent last Thursday that someone described as an individual who rides a bus tested positive for COVID-19.
The school district worked with the Wallingford Health Department and determined that the infected person came in close contact with one or more people on a bus. Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said families with students who had close contact with the individual will be notified.
Earlier in the week, parents were notified by Menzo that a second person at Dag Hammarskjold Middle School tested positive for COVID-19.
The Wallingford Health Department initiated an investigation and said it will handle contact tracing to identify anyone who came in close contact with the person.
Waterbury
District officials said early Sunday afternoon that they learned one student taking in-person classes at Generali Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19. His or her specific cohort/class will be transitioning to distance learning through Friday, Sept. 25, they added.
Six other students who were attending virtual learning for the district also tested positive for COVID-19, the district said on Sunday.
School officials said a contracted bus driver also tested positive for COVID-19 and will remain in self-quarantine for 14 days.
A specific classroom at Chase Elementary School in Waterbury is being quarantined after a student there tested positive for COVID-19. All of the students in the affected class will transition to distance learning until Sept. 24, the school district said. The rest of the school remains open for in-person learning.
School officials said Monday that one in-person student at Washington Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19. The specific cohort affected will transition to distance learning through Tuesday, Sept. 29.
Westbrook
Westbrook High School closed after a COVID-19 case there and switched to distance learning on September 14, 15, and 16
The district said that if a child was in the same class cohort or in close contact with the confirmed positive case then the district would contact the family and the child will need to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Weston
The entire district was temporarily remote learning for Monday, Sept. 21, after it learned about another case of COVID-19 over the weekend.
The school district said they learned about a Hurlbutt Elementary School student who tested positive for COVID-19 around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
"We need at least Monday to do additional contact tracing to determine the potential spread of COVID-19 in the District. We are taking this step out of an abundance of caution," the district posted in a statement on its website.
Wethersfield
Wethersfield Public Schools underwent cleaning and disinfecting last Wednesday, which was a scheduled full-remote-learning day, after an individual from Silas Deane Middle School tested positive for COVID-19.
Windsor
The superintendent said a staff member at Sage Park Middle School tested positive for COVID-19, but could not provide any additional information.
