A Marin County elementary school has found itself at the center of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak after parents sent their two children to school despite knowing one was sick with coronavirus.
Eight students at Neil Cummins Elementary School in Corte Madera have tested positive for COVID-19 and 75 others are in quarantine.
The parents, who have not been identified, were made aware that one of their children had tested positive in the week of Nov. 8 by county health officials. They were told to keep both children home and to notify the school. Instead, they told no one and sent their kids to school from Nov. 9 through Nov. 18.
"This situation we experienced at Neil Cummins posed great risk to a school of unvaccinated children, some of which have health compromised conditions, and the staff that cares for our students each and every day," school officials said in a statement.
Neil Cummins Elementary has a strict COVID-19 policy including a 32 point plan outlining how the school will handle coronavirus.
"Parents, caregivers or guardians should monitor students for symptoms of infectious illness every day through home-based symptom screening," school officials stated. "Staff and students who are sick are expected to stay home."
According to Dr. Matt Willis, Marin public health officer, this is the first time such a deliberate breach of school protocol has occurred in Marin during the pandemic.
Related
