After Positive Covid-19 Test, Holy Spirit High Goes Remote

Holy Spirit High School in Absecon is reacting to a positive COVID-19 test by a member of the school community by transitioning to remote learning through the rest of the week.

In a website letter from Principal Thomas J. Farren, Sr. to parents and students on the Holy Spirit web page, the school announced it is moving to a period of remote learning to begin on Tuesday, Dec. 7, and continuing until at least next Monday, Dec. 13.

Holy Spirit already planned to be closed on Wednesday, Dec. 8 for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The school is suspending all sports practices, competitions, and other extracurricular activities through Friday. The website message says they will revisit the sports and activities schedules for the weekend and make an announcement by Friday early afternoon.

The web letter advises that "any students, teachers, or other members of the school community who are considered close contacts of the person who tested positive for COVID-19 will be contacted separately. They will be advised to self-quarantine for a number of days, according to health department and CDC guidelines."

Anyone who is not contacted by the school is not required or expected to take any other action.

The school has continued its cleaning protocol from last year, including Bio Blasting, and will do a deep cleaning, starting tomorrow and continuing through the rest of this week.

We recognize that another transition to remote learning is not what we expected. However, we know that the Holy Spirit community is strong and that we will get through this together.

Although the Principal's letter only references one positive COVID-19 case at Holy Spirit, unconfirmed sources say several students have tested COVID positive recently.

New Jersey has very specific criteria for what qualifies as an outbreak in school settings, at least in public schools.

According to the NJDOH and the New Jersey Communicable Disease Service, an outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff, with onsets within a 14-day period.