Durham school district closes Hillside High due to ‘probable’ case of COVID-19

Durham Public Schools has closed Hillside High School until Thursday because of a “probable” positive case of COVID-19 found in a school employee, according to an alert on the district’s website.

The district closed the school to allow health workers to do contact tracing, the alert states. Durham county’s public health department and the school district are working to identify who may have spent more than 15 minutes within six feet of the employee.

Hillside High School is one of 18 sites used by DPS to serve free meals to students. The school serves weekly supplies of re-heatable breakfasts to families on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

A DPS spokesperson did not respond to questions about the employee’s contact with the public by 5 p.m.

“Due to health, employment, and educational privacy laws, we are unable to provide any further information at this time. If we are able to do so, we will as soon as possible,” DPS’ website alert states.

In late August the school district decided to temporarily close W.G. Pearson Elementary School after reporting an employee there had a probable positive test for COVID-19, The News & Observer reported. The school was being used as a Learning Centers for elementary schools students to learn remotely. DPS later reported the employee had tested negative for the virus, according to the district’s website.

This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Durham school district closes Hillside High due to ‘probable’ case of COVID-19."