John Scarffe, Nederland. Employees of Boulder County bus garages have been quarantined since September 30, 2020, due to Covid-19. A total of 40 people in Boulder Valley School District transportation have been quarantined, including 12 in Nederland, according to Chief Communications Officer Randy Barber. 

The Transportation Department has three facilities, one in Boulder, one in Lafayette and one in Nederland on Ridge Road. Garages in Nederland and Lafayette were affected by the quarantine, which ended on October 14. From those who were tested, only two cases have tested positive, and they have no reason to believe they are related.

At the Nederland Bus Garage, 12 employees were tested, and only one tested positive, Barber said. It is not an outbreak. The 12 employees placed on quarantine were out of work for 14 days, and it doesn’t mean that there was a transfer of the disease. The driver was not sick.

Boulder County Bus Garage employees and former employees attended a party on September 30 in Nederland because two people were retiring and it was their last day of work. They wanted to honor their long years of service, according to former employees. 

Everyone was all together in one place, and food was uncovered. People were reaching into the same bag and doing things people would not do with anyone they didn’t live with. The general attitude was that they were not taking precautions seriously, and then all of the sudden, they get smacked in the face. 

Barber said that employees from all three terminals celebrated. It was not in alignment with public health orders, and Boulder County Transportation has made it clear that gatherings like this are not permitted. “The health of students and staff is a high priority, so we take this case very seriously,” Barber said. 

Community concerns include that the children are transported all in one vehicle from their location and picked up all along the way from Colorado Sierra to Nederland. They are all together in a confined space for up to an hour, and they get off the bus and go to a building where they are separated into classrooms. 

How well is Boulder County Transportation following a plan to keep as many people safe as possible? If a bus driver gets sick and is transporting people, and 20 kids are exposed and go to school all day, how is that keeping people safe? 

Community members said, “We want kids to go to school, especially special needs and younger kids need that, but it’s not valuable if everyone gets sick. It was a wakeup call.” 

Barber said, “We understand as these cases and quarantines happen that the community gets concerned. We take it seriously.” 

These are among the first cases Boulder County Transportation has had, so they are setting up a dashboard if cases are determined. They are posting letters on the website and will be counting cases. 

“Our focus is notifying those directly involved and we will go further than that. There is no reason to believe students were exposed to Covid-19.” 

Moving forward, they will be placing letters sent regarding cases (carrying the same information) on the website: https://www.bvsd.org/parents-students/academics/  -19-reintroduction/covid-19-dashboard.

(Originally published in the October 15, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)