The Pine Bluff School District announced on Sept. 24 that staff members at Southwood Elementary School had tested positive for covid-19 and that the school would be closed for several days. Soon after, there was concern expressed about what the district was doing to control the possible spread of the virus at other schools where siblings attended Southwood.
Pine Bluff Superintendent Barbara Warren assured patrons on Monday that matters are under control, saying that the district is collaborating closely with the Arkansas Department of Health and adhering to strict guidelines for following the protocol for confirmed cases and determining probable close contacts.
"There is a process and anytime that we have an active case there is a protocol we follow that the Department of Health has in place," said Warren. "We talk to any and everybody that we are supposed to and we enter that information into the ADH database."
Over the weekend, the district discovered more confirmed positives as a result of contact tracing that has been started.
Contact tracing is how public health officials track the spread of an infectious disease outbreak. When a patient is confirmed to have an illness, they isolate themselves to prevent further spread of that illness. Public health staff help those who have been infected recall where they have been and with whom they had close contact while they were infectious. Those "contacts" are contacted by public health staff and asked to quarantine themselves to stop further spread of the illness.
At the beginning of the year, each school was required by the Arkansas Department of Education to provide an Arkansas Ready For Learning Plan, which included a response plan to covid-19. According to the Pine Bluff School District's plan, available on their website, when someone tests positive for covid-19 a list of Probable Close Contacts will be compiled and provided to the Arkansas Department of Health.
"We always have to call the hotline and the ADH advises us," said Warren.
Warren said due to HIPPA, a lot of information cannot be released to the general public, but she does understand the parent's concern. She said information is shared with those who are connected but without providing identifying information.
"What may be happening is some of our families may think their child was connected, and because they didn't get a contact trace call, we missed a step," said Warren. "There's a protocol. We're not just by ourselves and we surely don't want to play with kid's lives."
Warren said she is proud of the district's efforts and the preventative measures already implemented in each school to decrease the spread of covid-19.
"We've done some things to make certain that 15 minutes within six feet doesn't apply to our students," said Warren. "Our teachers are socially distancing. We are keeping our students distanced. We're doing those things to where we wouldn't have close contacts."
The CDC defines a close contact as any individual who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, two days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.
Due to contact tracing, more cases were confirmed at Southwood, Thirty-Fourth Avenue Elementary School and Jack Robey Junior High School. Warren said those cases have not affected in-person students.
"You may hear about some positive students, but it was virtual, which is community spread," said Warren. "It's a bigger conversation than how many numbers do we have at school. It's so much bigger than that. We really have a lot of struggle, because everyone wants a lot of information, which I get that, but they're not interpreting the information through the medical lens."
Warren advised parents to call the schools directly to get their questions answered, especially those who feel their child may have been exposed, even if they didn't get a contact tracing call.
"They can reach out to the office if they would like their child to have a virtual day or just if they have any questions, they can call the school and talk to the school nurses or principal," said Warren. "They can then share and advise and help the parents understand what's going on."
Warren adds the Pine Bluff School District is diligently working to ensure that staff and students have a safe and enriching educational experience continuing to closely monitor all guidance from the Arkansas Department of Health and the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
"We are trying to follow protocol. We immediately reach out and then the Department of Health reaches out as well--so that's another layer," said Warren. "It helps a lot if parents will call the school because it's closer to their concern and the real specifics can come from them."