PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The Providence Teachers Union has sued the school district and the state Education Department to force the temporary closure of a city middle school where dozens of staff members are out because of coronavirus-related concerns.
Nathanael Greene Middle School students and staff “have an incontrovertible right to work and learn in an environment that is safe and adheres to the guidelines laid down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health,” the complaint said.
At least three students and two staff members at Greene have tested positive, according to the suit, while many other faculty members are quarantining.
State Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green and Providence Superintendent Harrison Peters, in a joint statement said city schools are safe.
“As with all challenges that COVID-19 has presented, we are committed to continuous improvement and the safety of students and teachers,” they said.
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RISING POSITIVITY RATE
Rhode Island’s coronavirus average positivity rate and average number of new cases per day continue to trend in the wrong direction, according to data released Tuesday.
The state Department of Health on Tuesday reported 334 new confirmed cases and two more deaths from the previous day.
The state also reported 177 people in the hospital with the disease as of Sunday, the latest day for which the information was available, the highest single-day total since early June.
The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate has now risen over the past two weeks from 1.94% on Oct. 19 to 3.39% on Monday.
State health departments are calculating positivity rate differently across the country, but for Rhode Island the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test encounters using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases in the state has risen over the past two weeks from almost 217 on Oct. 19 to more than 442 on Monday.
The state has now had more than 35,500 confirmed cases and 1,212 fatalities.
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BRYANT UNIVERSITY-QUARANTINES
One Bryant University student has tested positive for the coronavirus and dozens more are in quarantine following what the Smithfield school called a series of “unsanctioned social activities” last week.
It was not a single party, but an “unscheduled series of gatherings that occurred on a rolling basis,” the university told WJAR-TV.
Bryant said the activity Friday violates its code of conduct and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.
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