Highland Park High School Student Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Jonah Meadows
Updated ·2 min read

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A Highland Park High School student is in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus Monday, administrators announced.

Contract tracers for the Lake County Health Department will seek to identify anyone who the student may have exposed to the virus, Principal Deborah Finn said in a form letter to the school community.

"If you are contacted by the school or the Lake County Health Department," Finn said, "we ask that you please cooperate in providing information to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our school community."

Township High School District 113 began the 2020-21 school year with a plan administrators dubbed "remote learning plus services," which includes fully online instruction for most students, with some on-campus activities.

At a board meeting earlier this month, Superintendent Bruce Law recommended that fully remote learning should continue past Oct. 20 and into the second quarter.

District administrators previously announced two staff members at Deerfield High School and one Highland Park High School staffer tested positive for the coronavirus.

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The HPHS student who tested positive Monday is the first confirmed case of a student with the coronavirus that administrators have learned of since the start of the 2019-20 school year, according to District 113 Communications Director Karen Warner.

The Lake County Health Department notifies school superintendents whenever it becomes aware of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in their school districts. And, according to health department guidance, school districts should notify families anytime a student or staff member tests positive for the coronavirus, regardless of whether that person has been on campus or been involved in any in-person school activities.

This article originally appeared on the Highland Park Patch