RANDOLPH, NY (WKBW) — Students in the Randolph Central School District are already into their third week back to school. But unfortunately, with the return there are eight confirmed COVID cases since school opened September 2nd.
Schools Superintendent Kaine Kelly confirms to 7 Eyewitness News senior reporter Eileen Buckley that along with those eight cases, about 11 students are now under quarantine by the Cattaraugus County Health Department.
There are more than 900 school students in the district. The cases are spread among the district's two schools that house elementary, middle and high school students.
“We have yet to see a student-to-student spread in our buildings. Every infection we have had has come from outside of the school," Kelly explained. "We've done the appropriate quarantining. We've worked very closely with the Cattaraugus County Department of Health to follow all of their protocols and because of that we have been very fortunate. We haven't see any infections or spread happen within our school district,” explained Kelly.
The superintendent says the district has experienced a “higher than normal” absentee rate for this early in the school year.
But Kaine said that’s actually a good thing because it is attributed to the increase of parents being cautious in deciding to keep symptomatic students at home.
Districts all across the region encourage parents not to send children to school if they are experiencing illness.
The superintendent says his district is just shy of a 90-percent vaccine rate among teachers/staffers.
The district is providing weekly email updates to school families each Friday, but any school families, who want a report each time a COVID case is confirmed, were able to sign up to a COVID hotline.
