School Superintendent in Central Connecticut Announces Parents Sent Child to School With COVID-19

The Superintendent of the Meriden Public Schools in central Connecticut issued an announcement on September 10, reporting a child had been sent to school while their COVID-19 test was pending and was later found to be positive.

Superintendent Mark Benigni, formerly the mayor of Meriden, said in an upload to the school district’s Vimeo account: “Today we learned from the Meriden Health Department that a student tested positive for COVID-19. Immediately the student was sent to the school’s isolation area. Despite all health guidance, the parents sent the student to school while waiting for the test results. Not only does this impact this family, but also the classroom of students. If not for our strict cohorting model, many more students could have been impacted.”

Benigni said the infected student will be kept home in isolation, adding that other students in their class would be “required to quarantine for 14 days.”

Local news reported the incident occurred at Lincoln Middle School, and the Meriden Department of Health and Human Services plans to conduct contact tracing.

As of September 9, the state of Connecticut reported 53,871 COVID-19 cases and 4,474 deaths. Credit: Meriden Public Schools via Storyful