Published in the May 20, 2016 edition.

The following is an update on the norovirus outbreak at the Woodville School from Supt. Dr. Kim Smith.

We continue to consult with the Board of Health as we open school today.

Our Director of Facilities has monitored the cleaning of the school and, following her walk-through this morning, commends our custodial staff for their execution of a full bio-clean protocol. The Director of Facilities monitors the daily cleaning of all school buildings and implements regular protocols for extra disinfecting measures. This weekend we will continue to implement precautionary sanitization.

Even with these in place, this type of illness will occur on occasion, and then we respond accordingly. Certainly the most important preventative measure is the contact of people to people in spreading illness, so we continue to message that anyone who is symptomatic stay home for 48 hours until symptom free. The numbers of new illness were stabilizing yesterday as a result. Rest and hydration will assist those ill to rebound quickly. All are reminded to wash hands with soap and water frequently.

Since we have had a large number of student absences – both those who are ill and others who are healthy but staying home as a preventative measure – our teachers are using instruction time to reinforce and practice skills so that students who are absent do not fall behind.

Yesterday we also had a large number of healthy students fully engaged in school, and our classroom teachers and support staff did an excellent job ensuring that they had a great day.

Please contact us with your questions.