Published: 4/11/2022 1:11:00 PM
Modified: 4/11/2022 1:09:48 PM
SHELBURNE — Following an uptick in cases of COVID-19, masks will be required at Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School through the end of this week.
Required masking throughout the Mohawk Trail Regional School District ended on March 31, and while cases have been down locally, the school on Mechanic Street has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks, according to a post on Buckland’s town website.
Last week, the school saw a total of 27 cases, up from eight cases the week prior, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard. The school has 248 students from preschool through sixth grade.
“Our Nurse Leader Donna Weber had been, of course, looking at the pool tests and the numbers of at-home positive tests we were seeing, and as those numbers started to increase, she reached out to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and also to (the Franklin Regional Council of Governments),” said Superintendent Sheryl Stanton. “We started watching the numbers more carefully with FRCOG.”
Stanton said FRCOG reached out to both towns, in particular the Shelburne Board of Health, which ultimately decided last week to reinstate the mask policy through April 15, the start of the week-long spring vacation for schools.
The district continues to monitor daily numbers, as well as the results of the weekly pool testing, Stanton said.
“We’re always looking at it,” she said. “I think post-delta and post-omicron, we are aware of the impact it will have on our classrooms and in our schools. … Our hope is if we’re masking anyone who comes into the building … by the end of April break, we might see us over this uptick in cases that we’re seeing.”
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne
