ROCHELLE — Rochelle School District 231 and the Ogle County Health Department released a joint statement Friday evening after it was discovered that an individual in one of Rochelle Middle School’s in-person classrooms has been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

The individual was last in school on Tuesday, Sept. 8, according to the joint statement released by Superintendent Jason Harper and Ogle County Health Department Administrator Kyle Auman. Students in the classroom with the infected individual will be temporarily moved to remote learning for a required 14-day quarantine. The school district and health department have begun contacting parents regarding the situation.

“The district has been closely monitoring the health and safety of our students and staff,” Harper and Auman wrote in the statement. “[Friday] evening, we became aware that an individual in Mrs. Garcia-Martinez's in-person classroom at Rochelle Middle School has been diagnosed with COVID-19… The Ogle County Health Department will be calling each household [Friday] night and throughout the weekend for contact tracing purposes and to determine the appropriate next medical steps. Considering the positive diagnosis of COVID-19, all areas of the building and/or classrooms potentially impacted are being cleaned and disinfected in accordance with recommendations from the CDC and IDPH over the weekend. For all other students attending Rochelle Middle School and the other Rochelle schools, there is no indication of a larger spread of COVID-19. The district continues to work with the Ogle County Health Department to determine the best course of action for all students. As of now, plan for all students not in Mrs. Garcia-Martinez's in-person class at Rochelle Middle School to attend school as normal on Friday, Sept. 25