As you may know, NewsChannel 13 ran a story last night and referenced the unofficial prom that was attended by Averill Park CSD students and implied that the event was the primary source of COVID-19 infections and quarantines within the District. That is not a true reflection of events.
To clarify, this event was not approved or sanctioned by the District. In fact, the District did not have any prior knowledge of this event. As a point of further clarification, our data does not indicate a significant number of cases currently existing within our senior class, the students who would have attended the Fake Prom. Rather, our data suggests that the problem is coming from multiple sources.
It is important to note, though, that the District is aware of multiple events consisting of large numbers of students occurring at home parties and other gatherings. All of these events lead to an increased risk of the virus being transmitted, an increased number of our students testing positive, and the likelihood that we will not be able to have our students return to in-person instruction.
We all worked very hard throughout the summer to be able to return to our buildings after enduring a spring in which our Class of 2020, as well as other students, missed out on many significant milestones. We do not want to see the same happen to the Class of 2021 and the rest of our student body. Therefore, we encourage our students to adhere to CDC and DOH guidelines regarding large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The only way to truly return to anything near “normal” is for all of us to do our part in helping to control the spread of this very serious virus. By controlling the spread, we hope to be able to return to regular instruction of students, which is what we all strive for.
Editor’s note: This statement has been edited for clarity as the reporter with Channel 13 stated the event was an “unofficial prom”, not a “Fake Prom” as it has been widely referred to as.