Temporary move to remote instruction at Maurice Hawk

Parents with students at Hawk and parents with students in the school district received a letter yesterday from Superintendent David Aderhold informing them of a one-week remote only instruction for Hawk students.  

I want to provide an update to the entire community to keep you informed what’s happening and what the school district and township is doing about it.  

First, a note to all data analysts who keep track of numbers. The number of COVID cases I report every Friday is a weekly total of the new cases during the previous seven days and only includes West Windsor residents.  Moreover, Hawk has some Plainsboro students that are not included in my numbers, neither are staff members who are not WW residents.  In evaluating school-based spread of illness, the school district and health department focus on cases which occur over a 14 day period.   Thus, although all reported numbers are accurate, the sample looked at is a little different in each report because the timeframe covered may be different. 

Throughout the week our health department has been in contact with the NJ Department of Health epidemiologist team and the school district has been in contact with the county superintendent. After my report on Friday, we received more positive cases related to Hawk that could not be traced to exposure to earlier reported cases. As a precaution, on Saturday, after consulting with the State health department and County Superintendent, Dr. Aderhold with approval of our Health Officer Jill Swanson made the decision to move to remote instruction for one week only. This week will allow time for further investigation and identification of additional strategies to use in school and the community to help prevent further spread. I agree with the decision made by Dr. Aderhold.  

I want to emphasize that this is a temporary move to virtual instruction for one school for a limited period of time.  Both Dr. Aderhold and our health officer Jill Swanson worked all day Saturday to make this difficult decision. Rest assured that everyone in the school district and the township are doing everything they can to protect your kids while in school.  

Hemant Marathe 

Mayor