Dozens of active Covid cases at Dartmouth Public Schools

Dec 4, 2020

New data released on Dec. 4 by Dartmouth public schools shows 51 active Covid-19 cases among all students and staff, with the illness affecting just over 1.4% of students in the system.

The news comes as the town’s Board of Health announced another record number of positive cases in town this week.

Across all six schools, 44 students and 7 employees have tested positive for the virus, with 28 cases already resolved — meaning the person has completed the required 10-day isolation and can safely return to in-person learning.

Dartmouth High School is the most affected school, with 17 students (or 1.8% of the student body) and two staff members actively infected and isolating, closely followed by Dartmouth Middle School with 14 students (1.7%) and two staffers infected.

The least affected school is Cushman Elementary with just one student and no staff members actively infected.

According to a statement accompanying the data, the new data dashboard will provide families and community members with a summary of Covid-19 cases by school on a weekly basis going forward.

Active cases indicate that students and employees participating in in-person learning have tested positive.

Those who test positive must isolate and are excluded from in-person learning until the district verifies they have met the return criteria set by state and local health authorities.

Once the individual is cleared to return they are no longer considered an active case, but count towards the “resolved cases” column.

The statement noted that Dartmouth Public Schools continue to follow Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Public Health guidelines.

If there are individuals who had close contact with the person who has been confirmed with a positive case of Covid-19, they will be notified by phone from the Dartmouth Board of Health.

Families and other school community members will continue to receive communications from their principal stating if there was a positive case at the school.