Principal: Cases developed while Durham private school was closed

Liberty, on Guess Road, offers day care for the youngest children and K-12 education for about 250 students with about 40 staff members.

Kyler Ketner, principal of the high school, said the first two cases developed more than two weeks ago, and the school closed down as a precaution. During that time, more cases linked to students and staff were reported.

"We’ve been open for in-person learning since day one, Aug. 19, and we actually had no positive cases for nine weeks," he said. "This was the first we've had to deal with it."

Ketner said the school worked with the Durham County Health Department and got clearance to reopen on Monday.

"We cleaned three times a week – electrostatic sprayers, disinfectant, twice a day," he said. "Deep cleaning is a word I would definitely use."

Ketner said there are no active cases among staff, and that the data published by the state is dated.

"I don’t want COVID-19. No one does," he said. "But it’s here, and we’re doing the best we can to be as safe as possible."

Ketner said the school follows all best practices to contain the coronavirus – students and staff have temperature checks, wear masks and maintain social distance.

On the state report published Friday, Liberty listed a single staff member and nine students who had tested positive for the virus. On Tuesday, those numbers had increased to six and 20, respectively. That 26 total is the highest number of cases reported to the state by a school over the past week.

All of the schools reporting more than 20 cases are private schools. The others are Calvary Day School in Forsyth County, with 20 cases (17 students, three staff), Wesleyan Christian Academy in Guilford County, with 24 cases (15 students and nine staff) and Living Water Christian School in Onslow County, with 21 cases (15 students and six staff).