The number of students who have tested positive for the coronavirus in public schools across the North Shore has risen to nearly 350, according to state Health Department figures.
As of Tuesday, 340 students on the North Shore had tested positive since the beginning of the school year. The increase of 94 confirmed student cases is the most over a one-week period since schools began, according to state data.
Public school districts that were analyzed included the Port Washington school district, Roslyn school district, Sewanhaka Central High School District, Mineola school district, East Williston school district, Floral Park-Bellerose school district, Manhasset school district, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school district, Herricks school district, North Shore school district and the Great Neck school district.
The three school districts with the most cases among students are Great Neck with 57, Sewanhaka with 56 and Port Washington, also with 56. Each of the three districts had an increase of 10 from the prior week.
With the Great Neck peninsula’s seven-day positivity rate at 4.33 percent, according to state figures, schools in the district are permitted to remain open with 20 percent testing of in-person students and staff within two weeks from Monday.
Great Neck Superintendent Teresa Prendergast informed the community on Friday that testing for the coronavirus was scheduled to begin this week. Prendergast said participants in testing were required to print and fill out the necessary paperwork to be tested.
“I’d like to thank everyone who volunteered to participate in this State-mandated COVID testing,” Prendergast said. “The yellow zone designation and required COVID testing are the latest obstacles we’ve been presented during this pandemic, and once again, our school community has stepped up to the challenge.”
An additional 40 cases were found in North Shore Hebrew Academy (23), North Shore Hebrew Academy High School (12), Silverstein Hebrew Academy (3), and North Shore Hebrew Academy Middle School (2), all located on the Great Neck peninsula. Chaminade High School in Mineola also had 21 positive cases as of Wednesday.
Efforts to reach representatives from the private schools were unavailing.
In Sewanhaka, 42 of the 56 total positive student cases were on-site, while the rest were off-site, according to state figures. Floral Park Memorial High School was closed Wednesday and Thursday due to more coronavirus cases being reported on school grounds, according to Superintendent James Grossane.
“In consultation with the Nassau County Department of Health, Floral Park Memorial High School will be closed for at least tomorrow, Wednesday, December 9th and Thursday December 10th,” Grossane said. “All Floral Park Memorial High School faculty and staff will work remotely during this time.”
The North Shore school district, with 42, the Mineola school district with 35, and the Roslyn school district with 32 were the only other districts with 30 or more confirmed student cases. The East Williston, Herricks and Manhasset school districts combined for 51 student cases, with Manhasset having 21, East Williston having 18, and Herricks having 12.
Despite being surrounded by areas with a high number of confirmed cases outside the classroom, schools in the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park and Floral Park-Bellerose school districts had a combined 11 cases. New Hyde Park-Garden City Park had seven cases, while Floral Park-Bellerose had four.
For more information on how school districts and their schools are faring with the coronavirus, visit https://schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov/#/home.
