ML school employee tests positive for COVID-19

MEDICAL LAKE — Just as Medical Lake parents and employees were trying to grasp the magnitude of Gov. Jay Inslee’s decree that all state K-12 schools would be forced to close for up to six weeks due to the COVID-19 virus, news that a staff member had tested positive was announced.

The governor announced on Friday, Feb. 13 that schools across the state —both public and private —would remain closed from March 17 through April 24. This decision expanded a closure that Inslee announced March 11, affecting schools in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties in the Puget Sound.

In the meantime, many school districts in the area, including Medical Lake, moved the closure back one day to this past Monday, March 16.

With traditional spring break scheduled from April 6 – 10, the wheels are turning at high speed for teachers to implement some type of stop-gap online instruction for the five weeks that school would actually be shuttered due to what has commonly been referred to as the “coronavirus.”

Perhaps of more concern was the news also released March 13 through district social media that tests came back positive for what was, at the time, Spokane County’s third COVID-19 case.

“We have now learned that the test came back positive,” the statement read. “As we had previously stated, school will be closed starting Monday, March 16 until April 24. This staff member spent time prior to showing symptoms at both Hallett Elementary School and Medical Lake High School as a Robotics team advisor.”

Privacy concerns prohibit the district from identifying the person.

District leadership has been in contact with Spokane Regional Health to ensure it is following proper protocols regarding this situation. The health district is recommending that if you or someone you know were in these locations over the past 14 days please pay close attention to flu-like conditions and call your healthcare provider immediately.

“We strongly encourage you to respect the privacy of our fellow community members,” the statement said, suggesting that while some may know the identity on the person that tested positive, they keep that to themselves.

As far as the governor’s decision to close schools, his office was sent a series of emailed questions in hopes of gaining clarification surrounding the decision to mandate the blanket closure across the state.

While the governor’s office suggested that those questions be addressed to the Washington state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, deputy press secretary Mike Faulk offered the following statements.

“This decision was not made lightly, and was made with input from superintendents from various districts across the state providing input to their local ESDs (Educational Service Districts),” Faulk wrote in an email.

As to the length of the closure, and why not start with a smaller window and make decisions accordingly, Faulk noted, “Various timelines for the closures were suggested, but ultimately six weeks was arrived at with input from public health officials modeling the spread of this outbreak, where it stands now and how fast it threatens to multiply.”

OSPI’s Katy Payne echoed what Inslee’s office said.

“We know from public health experts that shorter, 1–3 week closures won’t have the impact needed to truly slow the spread of the virus,” Payne wrote.” The goal of this statewide six-week closure, along with the cancellation of events and closures of other community activities, is to slow the spread of the virus so we don’t get to a point where our hospitals are unable to care for all of the people who need care.”

Relative to making school closures a district-by-district and regional decision, Payne said, ”That was how it was going at first over the past 2–3 weeks. Up until late last week, the closures were largely concentrated in King and Snohomish counties. It caused a great deal of confusion and angst having some neighboring districts open and some closed.

Large decreases in student and staff attendance, to the point where some districts were concerned they would not have enough staff to operate their school prompted a larger response. “A statewide approach was determined to be in the best interest of the health and safety of our communities,” Payne said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.