Parent shares info on Portola High cases

A parent contacted Plumas News today to share some information regarding the three positive cases announced yesterday at Portola High School. She feared that the announcement — that there were three cases (though it wasn’t specified whether the cases were students or staff) — would cause people to blame the school.

“I don’t want schools to be considered a super-spreader,” she said.

The parent said that her daughter was one of the students to test positive, along with the daughter’s boyfriend. The pair had visited the third student (the original positive case) at the student’s home after school Wednesday, March 17. That student and her family had recently returned to Portola from an out-of-state trip.

After it was learned that the first student tested positive for the virus, the other two students were tested in Reno and received the positive test results Sunday. None of the students returned to school this week. Because Portola High students attend class on alternating days, with no in-person education on Friday, the three students have not been in school since March 17.

Though the original student did attend class last Wednesday, COVID protocols were in place. The parent said she is confident that the other two students were exposed after school.