January 11, 2022
Dear BHS Staff, Students, and Parents,
Thank you for your cooperation, flexibility, and patience in response to our transition to remote instruction at the High School. I want to provide an update on my decision to have the High School move to remote instruction this week.
In the January 7, 2022, community newsletter, we provided the following update:
COVID-19 Cases
Between December 22 and January 7
There were 93 new COVID-19 cases in the Brunswick School Department:
As you can see from the chart, Brunswick High School had 45 cases since 12/22/21. This alone would not have caused us to go remote; however, as you might surmise, the number of student cases mirrors the number of positive COVID-19 staff cases during that same period.
In addition, late in the day on Thursday, January 6, 2022, we were notified we had nine positive testing pools. This meant that at least one individual per testing pool was positive for COVID-19.
The fact is the recent surge caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant put an excessive strain on school staff, including our Health Services Team, who are valiantly attempting to monitor and test students.
Therefore, after consultation with the Brunswick School Department (BSD) COVID-19 Health Team members and school administrators, I determined we did not have enough staff to provide follow-up testing as well as ensure a safe in-person instructional environment.
Sincerely,
Phillip J. Potenziano, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools