The Story
You thought COVID was a thing of the past?? Well, buckle up because it’s back with a vengeance.
What’s the sitch?
New Hampshire’s current case rate has increased 21% over the past 7 days, with 36 cases in Bedford, and 12 new ones on Friday. And there have already been 2 cases at BHS, 2 at McKelvie, 16 at Memorial, and 1 at Riddle Brook. It was bold of us to assume this would just fade away over the summer.
What is the district’s response?
The official Reopening Plan does not require students or staff to wear masks, but strongly recommends it for students 11 and under and those who are not vaccinated. They’ve also abandoned the whole social distancing thing because having everyone in school all the time doesn’t allow for that.
So what happens when someone gets COVID?
The student or staff member who tests positive has to self-isolate for 10 days. Everyone who had close contact with the positive case has to self-monitor for any possible symptoms. Yep, that’s right. No more quarantining for exposures. That’s good news for the sports teams! (looking at you, boys lacrosse – we remember when you suddenly went remote multiple times last spring)
And what happens when there’s an outbreak?
We hate to say it, but look at Memorial. With 11 new cases over the weekend, it has been deemed as an outbreak and the entire school is now required to mask up. This is to hopefully prevent more students and staff from contracting COVID without having to shut down entirely.
What are other places doing to prevent outbreaks?
49 schools across the state have signed up for SASS testing. No, not the standardized testing – random COVID testing of asymptomatic (sassy?) students. Schools can apply for this Safer at Schools Screening program through DHHS, which has a hefty grant from the CDC to contract with vendors to conduct testing that districts can choose from.
How does this SASS testing work?
That’s the beauty of it – districts get to choose. They can test every student every week, or just sports teams, or just random students when they think they have an outbreak. And it’s been emphasized that all testing happens with parental consent.
So why hasn’t Bedford signed on?
We’re not completely sure, but the deputy commissioner of the Department of Education said that some schools are not ready to move forward with the program, while others think it would be too disruptive. And considering the insane reactions to the Reopening Plan at the school board meeting a few weeks ago, we can imagine it would be a point of contention if Mr. Fournier was to bring it to the school board.
Insane reactions?
Of course. It wouldn’t be Bedford without angry parents. The school board meeting on August 16th lasted 8 hours and 7 ½ of them consisted of parents berating the board. Some parents were mad that the district is not requiring masks across the board. Others were irate that any students would be wearing masks in school, claiming that they would tell their unmasked children to bully the masked ones. School board meeting? More like a circus.
The Runaway
We’re back, and so is COVID. Get used to it.
What to Say…
When you’re tired of preseason training…
We are kicking off this year (pun intended) with some fall sports updates! Boys soccer is starting off whiffing with 2 losses and a total of a whopping 0 goals scored. However, girls soccer is picking up their slack with 2 definitive wins. Crew has yet to have a regatta, but upgraded to a new location, and a brand new dock just last week! The CRI Fall Invitational is on the 18th, for anyone interested in watching their first high stakes regatta. Cross country has evidently been running very fast, because the girls placed 2nd out of nine teams during their first meet last Tuesday. Field hockey has also been blowing the competition away, with no losses, including a shutout. And last but certainly not least, football put on an underwhelming show in their first game on Friday night. They lost 30-14. Let’s just say that our offense came up short. We’ll see if they can pull it together for their first home game this Friday.
When you’re in a democratic mood…
Whether or not you’ve been ignoring the plentiful campaign signs around town, there’s another local election – today! Linda Camarota (R) and Catherine Rombeau (D) are running to fill the late Dave Danielson’s seat in the NH House of Representatives. Because of the voting, there is a two hour delay for the Lurgio and the high school (yay), instead of the customary day off on election days (booo). This has raised questions about having students in the same building as voters in addition to having more traffic outside an already packed school, and sorry to disappoint, but we have no answers. We don’t know if you’ve paid attention in the past, but Bedford local elections tend to be very heated; this one being no different. On a probably slightly related note, signs for candidate Catherine Rombeau have been vandalized with spray paint in several locations. Real sportsmanly… Both candidates have held and ran for public office before, so it’s expected to be a close race. We’ll keep you updated.
When you’re taking a page out of The Shining’s book…
Theodore Luckey, a 42 year-old ex-convict, decided to cut his free life short by sending himself back to jail a few months after he got released in May. Luckey was in jail the first time on two counts of kidnapping and one count of contempt. His Get Out of Jail Free Card was a law enacted in New Jersey that allowed certain inmates to be released early in order to lower the spread of COVID. With his new found freedom, Luckey went into the Bedford Country Inn and Suites on August 21 and killed two people, one of whom was said to be a friend. One of the victims was found with multiple chop marks on his body. The other victim was strangled to death. He was originally charged with two counts of second degree murder and three counts of a being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon (big no-no). Last Thursday, one of the second degree murder charges was increased to a first degree murder charge, alleging that Luckey purposefully caused death by inflicting multiple chop wounds. The New Jersey native really brings truth to the phrase “everything is legal in New Jersey”. Unlucky for Luckey, it seems as though his luck has run out.
Things to Know
Roll up those sleeves…
There will be a Vaccination Van on the BHS/RAL campus today for students to get vaccinated.
Pop out…
Varsity football has their first home game this Friday at 7pm, and it’s going to be a blackout!