Tenafly suspends recreation programs after new COVID-19 cases, middle school goes virtual

Tenafly has suspended the borough’s recreation programs, and the district’s middle school has gone to all-virtual instruction after new coronavirus cases.

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Mayor Mark Zinna said the two-week suspension started on Thursday after the borough was notified that two teens who participate in recreation programs and attend Tenafly Middle School had tested positive for COVID-19. Also, the borough’s basketball courts, Soccer Cage and skate park are closed for two weeks.

© Ricardo Kaulessar/NorthJersey.com
A former Tenafly Public Works employee, Peter Quinn, is suing his former boss Ken Kraus, along with the borough and other unnamed employees claiming he was terminated from his job in 2018 due to part to a “vendetta” against him.

“We did that just to be cautious because obviously the kids in school are in the recreation programs, and we didn’t want there to be any crossover to infect more people,” Zinna said.

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Zinna said the two students had tested positive after attending a religious event outside Tenafly recently where there was no social distancing or mask wearing.

Zinna said that those two were among nine new cases that occurred between from Oct. 2 to Oct. 9. The new cases last week brought the total in Tenafly to 232 as of Friday including 23 deaths. 

The mayor said the recreation programs, which have kids in grades K to 8, will be suspended until Oct. 22 but could reopen sooner if it turns out that just the two children who are infected and it has not spread to anyone else participating in the programs.

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Meanwhile, the Tenafly Middle School has been doing full-virtual instruction since last week and will continue to do so until Oct. 21 when the school resumes its hybrid schedule, according to Tenafly Schools Superintendent Shauna DeMarco in a letter posted on the school district’s website.

DeMarco said the move was done out of an “abundance of caution” and that the new cases in town had “no direct correlation to our schools.”

DeMarco said in an email to NorthJersey.com that if additional cases arose with other Tenafly Middle School students, the district “will continue to follow the practice of conferring with and receiving the guidance of local health officials when making any decisions that affect our schools, students and staff.”

Ricardo Kaulessar is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ricardokaul 

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Tenafly suspends recreation programs after new COVID-19 cases, middle school goes virtual