Midlands elementary school shuts down after positive COVID-19 test
A coronavirus case has forced a Midlands elementary school to shut down for cleaning days before the start of the fall semester.
Chapin Elementary School has canceled early classes scheduled for this week after a university intern was diagnosed with COVID-19.
The school was notified of the student’s positive test on Tuesday, Lexington-Richland 5 said in a statement. A second student intern at the school had also reported a possible case of COVID-19, but the school district said Wednesday that intern’s test had come back negative.
The district did not initially say what university the student interns came from.
All areas of the school building used by the intern will be closed off, thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, the district said. This is in line with the district’s “established protocols.”
Students and faculty will not report to school during the cleaning. Chapin Elementary had been scheduled to hold early LEAP Day classes all this week, but classes now will not resume until next Tuesday.
Students will also have to wait to pick up school-issued devices for online learning. Distribution of the devices at Chapin Elementary has also been postponed “out of an abundance of caution.”
Richland-Lexington 5 still plans to begin regular classes for the semester on Sept. 8, but the intern will not be able to return to campus for at least 14 days.
The school district has been in touch with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control about steps to take to ensure its schools will be safe, the district said.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 3:46 PM.
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