School staffer self quarantines after possible COVID-19 exposure, schools remain open, no immediate threat

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A school employee at North Warren Elementary School has self quarantined after a recent possible exposure to COVID-19 out of state.

In a press conference Thursday morning about the local school response to coronavirus, Warren County Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton announced that schools here would remain open for now. Clayton said he was speaking for both the county and city schools, and city school superintendent Gary Fields would have been at the press conference as well if he were not out of the county supporting a city school athletic event.

“I want our greater community to know that this is a community wide decision in terms of how we proceed as a school district, not just Warren County Public Schools but Bowling Green Independent as well,” Clayton said.

“I want our greater community to know that we have been in close collaboration with all of our local authorities, our public health officials throughout the past week or so and in some cases even prior to that. We met for the first time as a group together on Tuesday, and we all agreed that moving forward we would closely consult with each other daily through 1 p.m. conference calls as we continue to navigate this particular situation,” he said.

Any decisions made by both school districts are in close collaboration with those local authorities, he said.

“The decision at this point is to move forward. We were notified by our governor yesterday afternoon to be prepared to close schools for a 72-hour period,” Clayton said.

At this time the schools will be open because, “we feel like it’s in the best interest of our community.”

“Now it’s important to know that this is an ever evolving situation. We get information on the hour that could impact what our next decision is,” Clayton said.

Any decision made about school closures would be made in close collaboration with local officials. If schools close down, it would impact the entire community, he said. Many children rely on schools for their daily meals in addition to an education.

“Our approach right now is to do the best that we can to mitigate the spread of the virus,” Clayton said.

Any non-essential, out-of-state staff travel has been eliminated. Both school systems are evaluating student travel.

In a letter to North Warren Elementary School parents from school principal Debra LaSala sent home this week, she explained that a school employee notified her of a possible exposure to COVID-19.

“At this point in time we don’t know for certain whether or not that staff member was actually in close proximity of an infected individual. However, the question was raised and so what we felt was the most responsible thing to do was to go ahead and inform our public, our school community that that exposure is there. But again I feel confident that we could say that probably throughout the community. We just don’t have information to suggest that,” Clayton said at the press conference when asked about the employee.

In LaSala’s letter, she explained that the health department has not been able to confirm if the person with coronavirus was present at the same event the school staffer attended. That staffer has agreed to self quarantine.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we immediately notified WCPS leaders along with the Barren River District Health Department,” the letter reads.

At this time, local health officials have advised there is no immediate threat to students, staff or the community, LaSala said in the letter.