Students Test Positive For Coronavirus At Westhampton, Remsenburg

EAST END, NY —Two students enrolled at East End schools tested positive for the coronavirus this week.

According to Gov. Andrew. Cuomo's "COVID-19 Report Card," one student enrolled at the Remsenburg-Speonk Union Free School District tested positive. Another student also tested positive at the Westhampton Beach Union Free School District.

"We had one student at the high school test positive for COVID-19," Westhampton Beach School Superintendent Michael Radday said Thursday. "The district was informed late Tuesday evening. The high school was closed for in-person instruction on Wednesday, September 16 so that the Suffolk County Department of Health could conduct its case investigation and begin contact tracing. The building was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. We reopened for in-person instruction today after the one day closure," he said Thursday.

Radday added: "The health and safety of our students and staff are our foremost priority. We will continue to follow guidance from the New York State Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the New York State Education Department to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission in our schools."

Denise Sullivan, superintendent at the Remsenburg-Speonk Union Free School District, said a student at the elementary school tested positive; the case was discovered Monday, she said.

Explaining how the district has handled the discovery, Sullivan said the district's reopening plan is structured so that the classes in each grade are split into two, with 7 to 15 children in each class. A remote learning component was also offered.

So far, Sullivan said, there are 44 students out of a total of 151 who are studying at home; 34 of those are home for 14 days due to the one positive case. She added that normally only 12 students would have had to quarantine, as well as one teacher, but because the students who tested positive rode the school bus, others were impacted. The classroom teacher is also quarantined and offering instruction remotely, Sullivan said.

The student who tested positive, she said, is doing fine and engaged in remote learning.

Despite the challenges, Sullivan said she was heartened by the outpouring of support from parents and residents.

"The support of our community, and the faith and trust they’ve shown us, is what's getting us through," Sullivan said. "This is my 27th year in education and this is the most challenging week of my career but the parents? I can't say enough about them and this community. I am very blessed to be here."

On Thursday, Sullivan said she was outside on the playground with kids who were on the swings, playing catch, and singing. "We're doing it," she said. "We're able to do it. It feels so good to be back in school. It's different, but we're doing it overall, and the children are very happy. That's the best — they want to be here."

To the community and to parents, Sullivan said: "We're confident that we've got this. Thank you for your faith and trust. It means everything."