WASHINGTON () — D.C. Public Schools announced Sunday evening that School Without Walls High School will be closed Monday for deep cleaning.

The school district said it made the decision close the school to deep clean and disinfect after one of its employees was exposed to the coronavirus. The test results have since come back negative and there is not an immediate risk to students and staff, the public school system adds

Lewis D. Ferebee, the Ed. D. Chancellor provided the following statement to students and families of the school:

Without Walls High School (SWW-HS) will be closed for the day on Monday, March 9, 2020, to deploy COVID-19 prevention measures, and to allow for the school community to be adequately advised of this incident.

Over the weekend, we were notified by DC Health that an employee at the school was exposed to COVID-19. The employee was tested, received negative results of the virus and is now following CDC quarantine protocol. She has and continues to be, asymptotic. Therefore, there is no immediate risk to students and staff. However, out of the outmost caution, we are closing the school for one day.

Per the CDC, cleaning of visibly dirty surfaces followed by disinfection is a best practice measure for the prevention of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in households and community settings.

On Sunday, DCPS hired a third-party contractor to conduct a deep clean of the school. Every surface in student and staff areas was cleaned with a disinfectant following CDC guidelines. This included things such as countertops, handrails, doorknobs, handles, shelves, keyboards, elevator buttons, etc.

Out of an abundance of caution, SWW-HS will close on Monday so another thorough deep cleaning can be conducted.

We are monitoring the situation and working closely with DC Health and other District agencies and will share additional updates as they become available.

Thank you for your understanding and ongoing commitment to keeping the safety of our students, staff, and school communities a priority. If you have any questions, please send them to [email protected].

The announcement of the school closure comes the same day it was announced two more patients had tested positive for the COVID-19 strand in Maryland, bringing the total to five confirmed cases in the state. read more

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