November 19, 2021
Dear Smithfield Staff and Families,
This 14th edition of the Back to School report includes our weekly report on COVID cases, information on holiday travel, reporting vaccinations for students, winter sports reminders, and town data. There will be no report next week, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
A Weekly Report on COVID Cases
Eleven cases were confirmed since the last Back to School Report for a total of 106 cases since the start of the school year. One case was identified at SHS, three cases were identified at GMS (one staff member), four cases were identified at Pleasant View Elementary (one staff member), and three cases at LaPerche Elementary (one staff member). There were no cases reported at Old County Road Elementary. As we see cases rise, please be diligent in illness protection strategies.
Holiday Travel
As the holidays approach, we ask families to be aware of transmission rates in the areas that they may travel to. Please continue to use precautions to keep your family and our larger school community safe from illnesses (flu rates are now starting to rise as well). Although testing is not required, in periods of high transmission as we are experiencing, it is strongly encouraged.
Reporting Vaccinations for Students
We are pleased to see the number of families choosing to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19. The school nurses are grateful, as always, when families submit the health data for students. Please send a copy of your child’s vaccination record when it is complete (after the second vaccination) to your school nurse.
Winter Sports are Ramping Up
As students are signing up for winter sports, this is a reminder that all unvaccinated athletes must participate in COVID testing weekly. The consent form to participate can be accessed under the COVID tab on our district website. Please return this consent form to the school as soon as possible.
Town Data
The number of weekly new cases in Smithfield for the week ending November 13th dropped slightly to 30 cases from 35 for the previous week while the number of cases in the state rose nearly 25%. The town rate corresponds to a weekly rate of 136 new cases per 100,000 residents, which is considered a high rate of transmission as classified by the CDC. This data is available at https://bit.ly/2PxCgDM.
Sincerely,
Judy Paolucci, Superintendent