80% of Framingham School District’s Maintenance Staff Under Quarantine After Positive COVID Case

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FRAMINGHAM – More than 80% of the Framingham Public School District’s maintenance staff is under quarantine, after a positive COVID test.

Assistant Superintendent for Human resources Inna London said 9 of the 11-member maintenance division of the Framingham Public Schools is under a 14-day quarantine.

“The affected employee works out of the maintenance and wood shop which is isolated from the rest” of Fuller Middle School, said London.

Some staff were notified on October 30 about the Buildings & Grounds employee testing positive, but unclear if all schools the maintenance staff visited were notified of the positive COVID case by the Buildings & Grounds employee.

The maintenance staff is different than the district’s custodial staff.

SOURCE was told by school employees several members of the maintenance staff have had lunch together. Framingham Public Schools did not confirm not deny that.

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“We addressed the physical layout to ensure that employees maintain social distancing during lunch and meetings. Administrators will continue to provide strict oversight of COVID-related protocols,” said London.

This is the second school in the last couple of weeks to have a positive COVID case.

“Framingham Public Schools was notified that a member of our FHS (Framingham High) community tested positive for COVID-19. We cannot identify the individual who tested positive for the virus because of privacy laws.  As an immediate response to protect the health and safety of our workforce at FHS, we are notifying all employees that the following preventative actions have been taken,” wrote London in an email to staff on October 23.

“Because there is a very small number of students and staff in the building we cannot disclose information on the number of people involved. This could violate privacy laws and confidentiality as this information could be used to possibly identify staff and students (who are minors) due to the very small numbers,” said Framingham High Principal Carolyn Banach to SOURCE about the Framingham High case.

Natick Public Schools has been running a dashboard of positive cases on its district website,

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“Custodial staff engage in regular cleaning and disinfecting several times per day, especially of high contact surfaces including doors, handles, push plates, light switches, elevator buttons, handrails, frequently touched fixtures in restrooms, stalls, and restroom surfaces and floor,” said Banach to SOURCE last month after the Framingham High positive case.

City of Framingham has been a high-risk community for the coronavirus for 9 consecutive weeks.

Framingham Public Schools had its highest needs students return to class on October 5.

More high-needs students are scheduled to return to class on November 5, along with students at the district’s preschool BLOCKS.