May 6, 2022
Dear Smithfield Staff and Families,
This 33rd edition of the Back to School report includes our weekly report on COVID cases and an update on town data.
A Weekly Report on COVID Cases
Since last week’s report, we have had a significant increase in the number of cases in the district. There are an additional 50 confirmed COVID cases. This brings our total since our school year began to 1,029 cases. There were 21 cases identified at SHS, 5 cases identified at Gallagher, 13 cases at Pleasant View Elementary, 4 cases at LaPerche Elementary and 7 cases at Old County Road Elementary.
Mask-Wearing Strongly Recommended in Classrooms with Outbreaks of COVID-19
This past week, ten students (over 10%), 1 teacher and 1 staff member in grade 2 at Pleasant View Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19. At OCRS, there are 6 students (17%) in grade 5 that have tested positive. These hotspots suggests that the virus is spreading among these students and more cases may be forthcoming. We strongly urge all members of these classes to wear masks until these numbers return to normal. Additionally, we will be offering testing to all those interested.
Town Data
Over the past 5 weeks, there has been a small but steady rise in the number of new weekly COVID cases in Smithfield. For the week ending April 30th, there were 50 cases reported in town. We know that this number, as well as the number of cases in the state, may be higher, since many are using at-home tests and are not reporting cases. Also, since this data lags one week behind the data we report from our schools, we expect a higher number next week. The number of cases in the state increased by 37% to 3176. The town rate corresponds to a weekly rate of 227 new cases per 100,000 residents. Our community rate is considered as having a moderate level risk for COVID-19 transmission. This data is available at https://bit.ly/2PxCgDM.
Sincerely,
Judy Paolucci, Superintendent