195 students quarantined

By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Oxford High School switched to remote learning Thursday, March 11, after district administration learned of “a number of large social gatherings” that occurred the prior weekend and a growing number of positive COVID-19 cases reported by individuals who attended those events.

“As we hear of additional participants and potential cases, we believe it is prudent to immediately switch to remote learning,” wrote Jill Lemond, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, in a March 10 email to high school parents. “We are working with families and staff to determine potential exposures both in school and outside of school. Our high school administrators have been making phone calls for hours to parents of quarantined students . . .”
As of Monday, March 15, there were 21 active student cases at the high school, most of whom were in attendance March 8 through March 10.
There were 195 students quarantined (about 10 percent of the building student population).
This was a large jump compared to a week earlier, March 5 when there were only two active high school student cases, and only three districtwide – among the lowest numbers reported this school year.

In a March 12 email to this reporter, Lemond noted “At this time, the evidence we have does not suggest transmission occurred in our school building or at school activities. We made the decision to move to remote learning proactively to ascertain the extent of the potential spread in our school community.”
When asked about the parties that occurred over the March 6-7 weekend, Lemond said “We are not concerned with rumors but rather students’ and staff safety. It is important for our community to know that their behavior outside of school affects our ability to maintain in-person learning. Overall, we are incredibly proud of our Wildcat students and families and hope to resolve this situation quickly.”

Superintendent Tim Throne announced the school would remain remote, at least through the rest of this week, in a March 12 email to OHS families. “We plan to return to in-person learning as soon as it is safe to do so,” he wrote, noting an anticipated return to in-person date of Monday, March 22.
“We appreciate the families who reported five new cases so far today and anticipate additional positive tests throughout the weekend and early next week based on exposure dates and the information we have available to us. We are maintaining remote learning throughout next week to ensure all students who were in contact with positive cases are identified.”
Throne said he recognized the frustration and disappointment many students are feeling as they miss school, sporting events and other activities as a result of cancelations, and directed those having strong emotions to the school’s mental health resources.
“Our community has faced this pandemic together from the start. We look forward to safely returning to face-to-face instruction and seeing all of our students back in school together once more, healthy and safe. We will find our way through this temporary situation, Wildcats, and be stronger for it.”