Almost two months after the PilgrimHomecoming Dance which ledto at least 45 positive Covid-19 cases,a school department investigationmade public last week finds multiplestate and school department protocols were not followed.

In wake of the homecoming danceSocial Arts Coordinator Cynthia Rixand the late Pilgrim Principal GeraldHabershaw were placed on paid administrative leave. According to the report two days after the homecoming dance, ABC 6 News contacted the School Department informing them that there was a video of the homecoming dance taken by the Warwick Beacon and posted on Facebook.

“The video shows a large crowd of students, faculty, and staff not complying with RIDOH, RIDE and district protocols and policies; specifically by being indoors and not wearing masks. The video also shows students being served food in a buffet line,” the report reads.

In the days to come several positive Covid cases came out of Pilgrim, which prompted the RIDOH to become involved, the report said. There was another video that emerged taken by a student at the dance and posted on Instagram. According to the report the video shows the tent closed on three sides, students crowded together, no masks and yelling/ singing.

In the publicly released report, which has the names of those interviewed redacted, states that an unidentified person was “directed to report to the Gorton Administration Building on Monday, November 22, 2021, to discuss the alleged non-compliance issues at the dance.”

Along with the unidentified person in attendance for the meeting were Warwick Teachers Union President Darlene Netcoh, and the WTU attorney Chris Lambert. Also in attendance were School Department Attorney Andrew Henneous, Director of Technology Jeff Taylor, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Cathy Bonang Assistant Superintendent William McCaffrey, Director of Human Resources Kimberly Ruggieri, Supt.  Lynn Dambruch.

According to the report the Union “requested that the Administration state their case, they would then caucus and return with statements.”

“The Warwick Beacon video was played as well as an Instagram video from inside the tent. Additionally, surveillance video from inside of the Gym Foyer was shown, which included a small clip of the total 3 hours and 37 minutes of footage of unmasked students indoors,” the report read. Dambruch and Henneous discussed the exhibits that were distributed.

Specifically discussed were non compliance of directives; the dance logistics; testing requirements; dancing directives; the tent requirements; and dancing protocols.” Three other people were interviewed regarding the event on different dates, according to the report. All the names were redacted as part of the public report.

As part of the investigation a number of different areas of concern were identified including repeated written and verbal directives from McCaffrey and RIDOH/RIDE Playbook.

Dance logistics

According to the report, the building use form submitted for the homecoming dance stated that the indoors of the school was requested for bathroom use only. The form didn’t state that there would be food inside, but according to the report an indoor buffet was seen in the Beacon video.

The plan submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Education “conflicted with actual events of the dance,” the report stated. According to the report the plan stated it was an outdoors event with social distanced pods.

That wasn’t the reality of what happened at the event, the report said. “Students were observed to be eating inside, no pods for dancing, or assigned seating per state requirements,” read the report.

Another irregularity between the actual event and what was planned for was in regards to attendance the report said.

According to the building use form 400 students were expected to be in attendance, the RIDE plan stated 300 students would attend.

“Yet ticket sales totaled 613,” the report read. “ RIDE/RIDOH limit is 300 students with food served outside or 200 with food served indoors. Attendance numbers were verified by two witnesses.”

The event also broke the mask requirements the report stated.

According to the report students were seen on surveillance cameras entering the gymnasium lobby in tight groups and unmasked.

“Food was served indoors despite no documentation of food being served indoors on the Building Use Form or the RIDE plan. Servers were not masked. Students were not seated in pods while eating as directed in the Playbook,” the report reads. “School Committee mask policy and the Governor’s Executive Order were not followed inside the gymnasium lobby or inside the tent. Directives were given for students to be masked. Surveillance video shows the majority of students and chaperones in violation of these policies,” the report went on to read.

COVID testing

As part of the requirements McCaffrey gave a directive that PCR tests were a requirement 72 hours in advance of the homecoming dance, according to the report.

But on Oct. 25 Rix posted on Facebook stating, “any tests taken so far would be accepted.”

Previously the homecoming dance was scheduled for Oct. 29 but was rescheduled to Nov. 6 for multiple reasons.

Ballroom tent

As part of the event a directive was given for two sides of the 80x100 ballroom tent to be up to allow for ventilation, the report stated.

But according to the report that wasn’t the case.

“Those interviewed and pictures taken at the event indicated that three sides were down at all times. The shortest side had a 10’-12’ opening against the Pilgrim building. No cross ventilation was possible. Video evidence shows standing in front of the far side of the tent with the DJ.”

According to the report when interviewed one unidentified person stated, “that the side behind the DJ was open.”

“All others interviewed confirmed that the second side was never open. The picture below shows the side of the tent behind the DJ. It is my finding that although an ‘outdoor’ tent was used, the sides being down and the lack of ventilation created the environment equivalent of an indoor event. It was no longer considered ‘outdoors,” the report reads.

Dancing

One of the areas addressed ahead of the homecoming dance was in regards to dancing. According to the report the State’s handbook for events and directives from McCaffrey stated that students were to be masked while dancing and to remain in pods. It states in the RIDE plan “students will socialize in pods and can only closely interact with those in their pods.

Video evidence shows no pods, masks, or social distancing, the report stated.

Consequences

As part of the report it stated, “It is our findings that Pilgrim High School of the policies, protocols, directives, etc. issued from the School Department, State, etc.”

The report also says that the policies, protocols and directives were provided to two people. Those names were redacted as part of the public report.

The report states that the two people were given the policies, protocols and directives “ in advance of Homecoming planning and were, in many cases, re-iterated multiple times as documented. They were clear and unambiguous.”

The report went onto read “It is further our finding that this action has caused a number of consequences including: 1100+ students missed seven days of in-person instruction due to the inability to contact trace the event since protocols were not followed.

• Approximately 45 positive student cases and 6 positive staff member cases have been tied to the dance by RIDOH.

• Special Education students will be entitled to compensatory time that could not be provided virtually.

• Several RIDOH representatives dedicated hours of their time to manage an unnecessary situation, including special mitigation meetings with both the school’s and district’s administration. They also had to hold a testing event at Pilgrim High School.

• Central Administration was required to dedicate countless hours to address the events related to this Homecoming and this diverted time away from educating students and administering the District.

• Local and national news outlets from across the country picked up the story, bringing negative publicity to the District and the City.

Five other bulleted items under the consequences were redacted from the public version of the report. In an email Dambruch said Tuesday that the investigation is complete and she could not comment on any personnel actions resulting from the investigation.

As for compliance with Department of Health regulations going forward she said, “ There were very stringent guidelines in place. The school submitted a plan to the school department and to the RI Department of Education to show that they will be following  COVID guidelines and Warwick School Department Policies. Another step we will add moving forward is to go and inspect the venue after everything is set up for any future events.”