First Baptist Christian School officials have decided to start the midterm break early, beginning Monday, on the heels of new cases of COVID-19 reported this week at the local school.
Principal Janet Durksen notified parents of the schedule change, through an email Friday morning, as she advised them of two new cases in Years 1 and 4 at the school, and asked them to collect their children.
The Cayman Compass is awaiting official confirmation from Public Health on the cases.
According to the principal’s advisory, due to the impact on the school, the decision has been made to follow government schools and move up the start of midterm break to begin 11 Oct. with students returning to school on Monday, 25 Oct. (previously a staff training day).
A copy of the advisory was obtained by the Compass as parents were taken by surprise with the announcement.
“In addition, we had a second case of Covid 19 in Grade 7 last evening [Thursday], and the entire class and their families are in mandatory 14 day quarantine,” the principal said in the email.
Parents along with their kids, she said, are also required to submit for testing Saturday at Doctors Hospital.
Earlier this week First Baptist recorded its first COVID-19 case, as it joined several schools in Grand Cayman confirming the presence of the virus in students.
On Thursday, Cayman registered its first hospitalisation of a child since the outbreaks were discovered last month. Public Health reported five new community transmission cases of COVID-19, all involving children, including the child who was admitted to hospital this week.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee, in his update on Thursday, said the child was hospitalised on Wednesday evening, and is doing “satisfactorily”.
The Compass has asked for an update on the child’s condition and we are awaiting a response.
Durksen, in her email, said, “The additional days missed will be made up during the calendar year by either extending the school year or taking time back from another scheduled break. The Gov’t announced the introduction of Lateral Flow Testing starting October 25th when schools reopen, and therefore the need for mandatory isolation of large groups of students and families will not be needed,” she wrote in her advisory to parents.
Students will receive a “Jump Start Learning Packet” of work that they can complete over break if they wish, she added.
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