Three students in the Roslyn school district have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week, according to letters sent to parents from district Superintendent Allison Brown, as the Roslyn Landmark Society reports that total cases in the area are rising.
On Sept. 29, Brown reported that a student at the East Hills School had tested positive, resulting in the school’s closure on Sept. 30 so that the building and buses could be cleaned, with students and staff going online for a remote day.
In the days since, Brown announced that two students at Roslyn High School have tested positive, with the first diagnosis being announced on Friday. Brown said in a letter sent home that day that there were no plans to close the school that day.
“At this time, the Nassau County Department of Health and our Roslyn School District Medical Director Dr. Ronald Marino are not recommending the shutdown of the high school today,” Brown wrote. “Given the fact that this student has not been to school for several days, combined with the comprehensive safeguards that we’ve put into place, it has been determined that the building will remain open in its controlled environment for the remainder of the day.”
Two days later, on Sunday, Brown reported a second case at the high school, and said that the school would switch to remote learning on Monday “to give the district and the Nassau County Department of Health time to complete our contact tracing protocols.”
“The high school will switch to full remote learning tomorrow, Oct. 5. We anticipate that the district will return to in-person learning on Tuesday, Oct. 6,” Brown wrote.
The cases follow a rapid rise in cases in the Roslyn area, according to data compiled by the Roslyn Landmark Society. The organization counts 18 new cases in the Roslyn, Roslyn Heights, Roslyn Harbor, Flower Hill, East Hills and Greenvale areas in the week ending Oct. 1.
“This represents an uptick trend over the prior two weeks,” the society said in a statement. “The 18 news cases are the highest weekly incidence since the week ending May 16, 2020.”
The district saw a rocky start in September when Roslyn High Principal Scott Andrews condemned a party attended by over 100 students who weren’t seen to be following COVID-19 guidelines as “devastating and disrespectful.”
“Our protocols were designed to mitigate the risk of positive cases and our priority remains the health and safety of our students,” Brown wrote. “With COVID-19 cases on the rise, I want to remind everyone to avoid large groups and gatherings. A few cases can turn into many cases quickly, so for the sake of our district and our community, please be responsible. Only by working together, can we meet our goal of staying open for in-person teaching and learning.”
The Roslyn school district had no additional comment when reached.
