Superintendents say schools, buses have been deeply sanitized

School has barely started and they are already dealing with COVID-19 cases.

Ironton schools opened last week and, on Monday, there was a case of COVID-19 reported at the middle school. And Symmes Valley Schools announced on Tuesday, the second day of classes, that one of the high school students had tested positive.

Symmes Valley superintendent Greg Bowman made the announcement on Facebook on Tuesday morning about a high school student having tested positive for COVID-19.

He said the staff had worked really hard to get the school reopened for class on Monday.

“We didn’t expect to deal with this on day two, but we executed our plan,” Bowman said. “We will get through this, but the important thing is that our student recovers.”

Buses and other areas of the school the student may have been in have been deeply sanitized.

Bowman said the school immediately began working with the Lawrence County Health Department about doing contact tracing, which is the process of monitoring anyone that may have come in close contact with the student.

“We would to take this time to remind you throughout this pandemic to monitor your student’s health and follow the guidelines of health authorities,” Bowman wrote, adding the schools will continue to monitor this situation in conjunction with the local health department and will provide additional information as needed.

“I understand that people are concerned about this. We hope to continue to have school and we will do what we have to do to make sure that happens,” Bowman said. “We will deal with in the best way possible.”

Bowman said the school system recognizes these situations call for uncommon sacrifices and disruptions to daily lives.

“As always, we have the safety of our students, our employees and our other community members at the top of our mind,” he wrote. “And we appreciate your contributions to seeing us through this challenge.”