District reports COVID surge, schedules vaccine clinic and safety drills

Superintendent Jason DeFalco introduced a public‑health update during the Dec. 9 school committee meeting and invited district staff to report recent COVID numbers and mitigation steps.

Karen, who presented the health update, said November produced 46 new cases and that the district has recorded 115 cases since the school year began. She gave school‑level breakdowns and vaccination rates by age cohort, and noted the district hosted a vaccination clinic that administered 82 child doses and 22 adult doses; she announced a follow‑up clinic for Dec. 21 from 1:30–5:00 p.m. at the high‑school cafeteria for first, second and booster doses.

DeFalco also reviewed safety‑training work the district has done this fall, including staff ALICE (run‑hide‑fight) retraining, classroom simulations with local police and planned student tabletop exercises in January–March. He said the district will coordinate a community response drill with police, fire and DPW in April to test plans and interagency response.

The district emphasized prior notice to families for exercises and encouraged parents to keep children in school for the drills unless they opt out; officials also reiterated that parents should report safety concerns and that the district will investigate every credible report.

What's next: The district will run the Dec. 21 vaccine clinic and publish dates for tabletop and community drills in the new year.