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Mostly Cloudy Wantagh, Levittown schools close on positive corona cases
Seaford remains open, but some activities are canceled
Schools in Wantagh and Levittown were closed on Friday because of two positive tests for the COVID-19 virus.
As of noon Friday, one Wantagh High School student and one staff member at the Gerald C. Claps Career and Technical Center (GC Tech) tested positive for the coronavirus. State Health Department regulations, in effect since the outbreak of the virus, require schools to close for at least 24 hours in the event students or staff test positive.
Levittown sends students to GC Tech.
Wantagh schools were shuttered Friday as cleaning crews moved through the district’s facilities. District Superintendent John McNamara wrote in a letter to parents that the schools would be closed for at least 24 hours, and all activities scheduled for the facilities during that time would be canceled. McNamara left open the possibility of a longer closure. “The need for additional closures beyond Friday will be determined after consultation with the Nassau County Department of Health,” he wrote.
Levittown schools will remain closed at least through Monday. The two days will be counted as snow days, according to a statement on the MacArthur High School website.
Seaford schools were open on Friday, but district Superintendent Dr. Adele Pecora and her staff were monitoring the situation closely. All after-school activities and all use of the district’s facilities by outside groups were canceled starting March 13 and extending at least through April 19, Pecora wrote in a letter to parents posted on the district website. This included SAT testing scheduled for March 14.
The district also canceled all sports activities from March 13-16. Pecora said she would provide updates at the beginning of the coming week.
The exhibition of student art that had been scheduled this weekend at Farmingdale State College, and which included 12 Seaford artists, was also postponed. “We’ve been promoting the event and were really looking forward to it,” said college media spokesman Peter Crescenti. Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a moratorium on all events attended by 500 or more, “and we were expecting at least a thousand, so we’re clearly over the limit,” he said.
