COVID-19 has now reached the Falconer Central School District in Chautauqua County.

What You Need To Know

  • Falconer Central School District reported three COVID cases on Monday
  • Two at Fenner Elementary and one at the middle school
  • Fenner is closed for two weeks and will reopen October 13
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"This is a challenging time period. Trying to be as proactive and safe as we can. We try to react quickly and efficiently," said Stephen Penhollow, Falconer Central School District superintendent.

Penhollow reports three positive COVID-19 cases Monday, two at Fenner Elementary, grades three through five, and a sixth grader at the middle school.

Leaders say the students are in isolation, while dozens of others are in quarantine, as Fenner students and sixth graders are now learning from home. 

"It’s working the way that it was designed to do. Something that we prepared for. The reaction first is for our families and for our community. The health and safety of our kids is our utmost priority," said Penhollow.

The district is one of a few in the county that decided elementary and middle school students would return to class full-time and in-person while following safety guidelines.

Penhollow says despite having to close Fenner for two weeks, he stands by the district's initial decision.

"Prudent. I think the decision we made based off our survey information was that 95% of our parents wanted their kids back in school. And we know that the best instructional process is to have kids in front of their classroom teachers," said Penhollow.

"I'm not surprised that we are seeing cases within our school districts. Whenever people gather closely or there's a breach in protections, or anything like that, we're going to see some disease," said Christine Schuyler, Chautauqua County Public Health director.

Schuyler and her nursing staff has worked with the district and done the contact tracing. She says more data needs to be collected to get a better handle on the spread of the disease in a classroom setting. 

"I'm thankful we're not seeing any serious illness so far related to any of the cases we have with our school children," said Schuyler.

Penhollow says on October 13, Fenner students will go back to the classroom, while sixh graders will go hybrid.