Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District preps for second Covid-19 wave

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Board of Education met virtually on Dec. 2 for an update from Superintendent John DeTommaso on where the district stands as the coronavirus pandemic ramps up.

The district reopened its five buildings for full, in-person learning on Sept. 21 after implementing a hybrid learning model during the first two weeks of classes. Since then, three of its schools — Grand Avenue Middle School, Wellington C. Mepham High School and John F. Kennedy High School — have closed temporarily for contact tracing.

At the meeting, DeTommaso said that administrative teams at each school begin contact tracing 48 hours from the time someone first shows symptoms of Covid-19. In addition to seating charts, busing and carpools, these teams monitor “what’s happening outside of school,” he said, “but it becomes a little more challenging to monitor events that happen off campus.”

Last week, both Mepham and Kennedy closed for one day of contact tracing after parents notified school officials that their children had tested positive for the coronavirus. Because administrators were notified of the cases overnight, contact tracing could not be completed in time to open the buildings for in-person instruction. Mepham students learned remotely on Dec. 3, and Kennedy students on Dec. 4.

“One of the reasons why you might see schools temporarily close is because we cannot open schools without knowing the potential for spread,” DeTommaso said. “This is critical.”

In an email to Kennedy families notifying them of the school’s Dec. 4 closure, Principal Gerard Owenburg said several students were quarantined for “weekend and off-campus gatherings” not related to school as a result of the positive case.

“We have been informed that . . . these students, who were already quarantined and have not been in school, have now tested positive,” he said.

DeTommaso urged families to remain diligent about protocols such as mask wearing and social distancing over the next several weeks. “We need to continue to work together about what’s happening outside of school to continue to do the things we’re doing in school,” he said. “We’re asking people to be aware and be careful.”

Prepping for the future

At the meeting, DeTommaso also said the Central District is working closely with its four elementary districts to acquire Covid-19 testing capabilities “ahead of time,” should Bellmore-Merrick be designated as one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “micro-cluster” communities.

A geographic area can be designated a yellow zone if it has a seven-day rolling average positivity rate above 2.5 percent for 10 days and has 10 or more new daily cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day average. Other factors include whether the spread has been caused by a gathering of people as well as the number of hospitalizations in the area.

“If schools are in an area deemed a yellow zone, the state mandates you test 20 percent of all of the personnel in that school,” DeTommaso said (see box). “Once the governor’s micro-cluster plan is solidified, we will share information of how the process will work to get testing.”

Although details of who would supply the tests and how they would be paid for are not yet finalized, the district is eyeing health care vendors with the ability to conduct rapid tests, such as BinaxNOW, at a low-cost or through insurance. DeTommaso said he is confident Bellmore-Merrick’s students, teachers and staff would be open to testing so each school can reach the 20 percent threshold.

“As we’ve done from the very beginning of this thing, we’re going to stay ahead and be prepared for whatever we have to do,” Assistant Superintendent Michael Harrington said. “Our schools being open are the best thing for our kids, and we’ll do our best to keep that in motion.”

For more information about the Central District’s response to Covid-19, visit http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/district/coronavirus_information.