Effective January 1, 2022, the Maryland Department of Health identified new K-12 Outbreak Definitions for a classroom COVID-19 outbreak and a school-wide COVID-19 outbreak. The revised definitions:
School-wide outbreak definition:
Five or more cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; OR
5 percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14-day period [minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff].
Currently, Garnet Elementary meets the definition of a school-wide COVID-19 outbreak with more than 5% of unrelated confirmed COVID-19 cases within a 14-day period. Effective Wednesday, January 19, 2022, and in consultation with the Kent County Health Department, Garnet will be closed for five consecutive days. Although in-person learning will be suspended for the remainder of the week, students should log onto Schoology (Wednesday-Friday) to continue with virtual learning. Paper packets will be made available for students without internet access.
Lunch and breakfast will be available for pickup at the vestibule from 11:00 am-1:00 pm. Monday, January 24, 2022, students will report back to school for in-person learning.
Instructional staff will work virtually from home on Wednesday, January 19, to allow ample time for the custodians to disinfect the building. Instructional staff should report to work on Thursday, January 20, to teach virtually from their classrooms for the remainder of the week.