Staff at Heartspring school for kids with disabilities test positive for COVID-19
Six staff members of Heartspring’s residential school have tested positive for COVID-19 — and the organization expects additional infections to emerge in the coming days.
Heartspring, in a news release announcing the infections Monday, said it notified employees and families on July 7 of the first positive coronavirus test in a staff member. Five employees who were sent home to quarantine after having contact with the staff member were tested for the infection and also had positive results.
Heartspring spokeswoman Rachel Mayberry said the organization is working with state and local health departments to obtain tests for all of its 450 employees. Between 30 and 50 have been tested so far.
Some of the school’s students also received COVID-19 tests last week, but Heartspring had not yet received those results as of Monday morning.
So far, no students are showing symptoms of the disease, Mayberry said.
As of Monday, all of the positive infections are connected to one classroom with eight to 10 students.
Heartspring’s residential and day school is a year-round program that serves children ages 5 to 21 with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders. Currently, about 70 students live in group homes and attend school on site, 8700 E. 29th St. North in Wichita.
“While we have followed highly restrictive measures, we were unable to prevent against staff becoming infected while in the community and unknowingly bringing the virus to Heartspring,” organization president and CEO Karina Forrest-Perkins said in a prepared statement included in the news release.
“Because we have a significant number of employees currently in quarantine, we anticipate more cases will emerge over the coming days.”
The children and staff who were in the affected classroom are under quarantine, Mayberry said. In addition, all students of the residential school for now are staying in their group homes, where they are continuing some educational activities but mainly engaging in home-life activities, to avoid any contact that might cause the virus to spread.
“We’re really trying to eliminate any exposure,” Mayberry said, adding that when the coronavirus emerged in Kansas earlier this year Heartspring closed its classrooms in response to a statewide order to shut down schools. It later reopened them as restrictions lifted and the number of positive infections declined, she said.
The average student age at the residential school is 16 or 17, Mayberry said.
News of the infections comes as schools across the state wrestle with how to safely reopen this fall. Draft safety guidelines from the Kansas State Department of Education that were provided to district superintendents last week say most people should wear masks and everyone should wash their hands once an hour, among other recommendations.
Heartspring said in the news release that it does not think any employee with the infection had contact with any outpatient clients or staff members. But as a precaution the organization is temporarily closing its Pediatric and Autism Service departments, starting Monday.
The closure will be in effect until further notice.
Telehealth services will still be available, according to the organization’s website.
All Heartspring staff will undergo testing for COVID-19 and the organization’s campus will be sanitized, the news release said.
“The safety of Heartspring families and staff continues to be the organization’s top priority,” Forrest-Perkins said in the prepared statement. “We will take bold and thorough measures to ensure our campus remains safe from the risks and dangers of the pandemic.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 10:41 AM.
