Freeport Area School District grades 6-12 to return to class full time, Buffalo Elementary on alert

Freeport Area School District students grades 6-12 will return to the classroom full time, despite warnings that one of the district’s school buildings may be forced to temporarily close after a covid-19 exposure.

Beginning next week, middle and high school students will return to the classroom four days a week, with Fridays remaining asynchronous instruction days districtwide.

Elementary students returned to the classroom full time while middle and high school students were learning in a hybrid model this week.

“We have done a great job this week,” Superintendent Ian Magness told the school board Thursday. “You should be proud of our teachers and our students for coming back in a very responsible way.”

Nonetheless, the administrative recommendation, Magness said, was that students remain in a hybrid model, as the community continues to see high covid-19 transmission rates.

“If you look at our covid tracker, we’ve had 65 cases to date, and that is high for a district our size,” Magness said.

There are currently seven active cases among students and two among staff, according to the district’s online covid-19 tracker.

Fifty-six students are currently quarantined, along with four staff members. The covid-19 tracker does not list any active cases in South Buffalo Elementary School, though Magness said there were active cases in each of the district’s school buildings.

Buffalo Elementary on alert

The decision to return more students to full-time, in-person instruction comes as Buffalo Elementary School may be facing “possible pending closures,” Magness said.

In a letter sent to Buffalo Elementary families Thursday evening, school officials notified families that a staff member involved with student lunches tested positive for covid-19. The staff member was last in the building on Tuesday, Jan. 12, officials said.

Students who packed or ate lunch in the gymnasium on Monday or Tuesday are at “elevated risk of exposure,” the letter said.

“Based on our collaboration with DOH (the Department of Health) and out of an abundance of caution, it may be necessary to initiate a temporary closure of the building,” the letter said. “Please stay tuned for further announcements as we continue to investigate.”

All students in the district were learning remotely Friday as normal.

District officials were not immediately available to comment on Friday morning.