Norwin reports 3 more covid-19 cases; schools reopen

Norwin School District on Tuesday reported three more students — two at the middle school and one at Sunset Valley Elementary School — tested positive for coronavirus.

The students have not attended school for several days and will not return to school until they have completed isolation procedures for the virus, Superintendent Jeff Taylor said in an email statement. The district learned of the latest cases on Monday.

The new cases did not prevent Norwin from reopening five schools — the high school, middle school, intermediate school and Hahantown and Sunset Valley elementary schools — on Tuesday, after they were closed Thursday following five coronavirus cases being reported. Those schools have been sanitized and are safe to reopen, Norwin said.

The state health department is conducting contract tracing involving the latest student cases. The only people who need to quarantine are those who have been personally contacted by the health department or the school nurse.

Norwin plans to return to fulltime instruction in the schools on Nov. 4, a decision that came under fire from two residents during the school board meeting Monday. It currently is instructing its 5,320 students in a hybrid plan — with students at school two days a week, and splitting the student body in half based on the first letter of their last name. Students are receiving online instruction three days a week.