School coronavirus cases: How many have been in area districts?

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Area school officials have said they are hopeful the state’s new coronavirus quarantine rules will reduce the number state-compiled totals for students and teachers forced to stay out of schools.

Earlier this month Ohio health officials adopted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest guidelines shortening the length of quarantine days for students and teachers suspected of being within infectious proximity to others testing positive for the coronavirus.

Besides the previously mandated 14-day quarantine option, which has played havoc in recent months in local schools and those across the state by also causing severe school staffing shortages and forcing some districts to cease in-person classes, there are two new, shorter options.

The most recent update of the Ohio Department of Health’s statewide data base, which lists each of Ohio’s public school systems, shows cumulative totals noting hundreds of local students in Butler County and southern Warren County have been quarantined in recent months.

Launched by state health officials in September, weeks after most area schools returned to in-person classes, the latest cumulative totals listed by the state are not comprehensive from the start of the school year but do provide the best statewide comparisons of Ohio’s 613 school systems.

And the cumulative – and other coronavirus school totals – can sometimes differ with local districts and their self-generated coronavirus dashboards available on school system websites and compiled with the help of area city and county health officials.

As of Dec. 24, according to the state heath department’s website, here are the student and teacher/staffer cumulative coronavirus positive test totals since September for Butler County and southern Warren County school districts:

Edgewood: 91 students, 40 staffers

Fairfield: 214 students, 108 staffers

Hamilton: 90 students, 67 staffers

Lakota: 434 students, 146 staffers

Madison: 31 students, 28 staffers

Middletown: 38 students, 9 staffers

Monroe: 65 students, 45 staffers

New Miami: 12 students, 11 staffers

Ross: 100 students, 38 staffers

Talawanda: 81 students, 33 staffers

Kings: 114 students, 34 staffers

Mason: 226 students, 51 staffers

School families are urged to also check their local school district websites compiled locally for more detailed information and a breakdown of coronavirus positive test and quarantine information per school building.

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