By: Shahael Myrthil
Seems like the pandemic wave isn’t over yet, and just days after school openings, the first infected case in a New York City public school has surfaced. This comes on the heels of Governor Cuomo’s on again and off again decision to shut down certain neighborhoods in the city.
The teen had attended on-site classes held at P373K, the Brooklyn Transition Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, an institution that tailors its educational curriculum to those students on the spectrum for autism and those with developmental disabilities.
The student was apparently infected with the virus when she entered her school for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year two weeks ago. Two days later, school staff members were made aware of her positive COVID test results.
According to published reports, teachers, faculty and administrative staff at the school were both shocked and appalled on how this infection was dealt with. Those that were exposed include teacher Madelyne Todd, who is one of the six staff members and seven students at P373K that chose to quarantine after coming into close contact with the infected student.
As the news of the student testing positive for the virus emerged, the staff were in a frenzied state, having what Todd described as “a look of terror,” as they weighed out which step to take next. It was clear to her that no one knew what to do.
The infected student had been marked present for two days, dating back to Sept. 22 and Sept. 25.
This was the week that schools for 3-K, Pre-K and District 75 students with disabilities opened their doors; a week before elementary, middle and high schools welcomed back their students.
Wondering why the infected student was noticeably absent from her remote classes prompted teacher Quinn Zannoni to call her parents on October 1st.
This was the conversation that brought the truth to the surface. Her parents had to share the details of their daughter’s COVID results, two days after receiving the results from a clinic, according to the NY Post.
Zannoni was one of the six adults notified by school and health officials in the DOE’s new COVID “Situation Room.”