A portion of the Eulalie Rivera K-8 School Photo Credit: VI DEPT. OF EDUCATION
ST. CROIX — The V.I. Dept. of Education said Monday night that a first-grade class currently engaged in in-person instruction at Eulalie R. Rivera K-8 School will temporarily return to virtual learning on March 16, and until further notice following the positive infection of a student.
D.O.E. said the child's family informed the school of the diagnosis on March 15.
The Department of Health has scheduled the class, which comprises of 14 students, a teacher and a paraprofessional, for free Covid-19 testing on March 16 at the D.C. Canegata Ballpark in Christiansted, D.O.E. said.
The department stated that the remainder of the school was not affected and can safely continue in-person instruction, based on guidance provided to school and district leaders from the Department of Health.
Details of the matter, according to D.O.E.
- The first-grade student was last on the school’s campus on Tues., March 9; the student’s family informed the teacher of the child’s COVID-19 diagnosis on March 15
- Parents of students attending in-person learning in the first-grade class have been informed of the matter; the school’s faculty and staff have also been informed
- The affected classroom will be thoroughly sanitized, in accordance with COVID-19 CDC guidelines
- All students attending in-person instruction at Eulalie R. Rivera K-8 School are organized into ‘bubbles,’ with each grade level having access to its own wing, which eliminates contact with other students and areas on the school campus
- Students remain with their classmates throughout the school day, and students and teachers eat breakfast and lunch inside their classrooms
- Parents transport students to and from school, thus eliminating different grade levels from intermingling on a school bus
- These protocols have been established as part of the return to in-person instruction for all district schools, providing for ease of isolation and contact tracing on campuses, should the need arise
D.O.E. said it will provide an update on the class’s return to in-person instruction.
