'Dearly missed’: NC teacher dies days after testing positive for COVID-19, officials say

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — ABC affiliate WTVD reported that a Fayetteville teacher died after testing positive for COVID-19 less than two weeks ago, according to Capitol Encore Academy officials.

Superintendent Will Kneer told ABC11 that 51-year-old Mary Ward started experiencing symptoms on Oct. 29.

After notifying the school administration, Ward took several tests and received a positive COVID-19 result on Nov. 1.

Capitol Encore Academy officials notified the Cumberland County Department of Public Health of the positive test and shut down in-person and online classes on Nov. 2.

Six days after testing positive, Kneer said Ward was hospitalized and died a day later.

“She was just really special and had a pretty profound impact on, just not her students, but the people she worked with and someone who will be dearly missed,” Kneer told WTVD.

[She loved everybody’: Third-grade teacher dies after recent COVID-19 diagnosis]

Ward was an art teacher at the school for the last two and a half years for kindergarten through eighth grade. The charter school has about 50 faculty members and around 620 students. It had only been doing about 50% in-person learning this school year.

Kneer said no other positive tests have arisen, but they’ve advised several people to self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution.

'She loved everybody’: Third-grade teacher dies after recent COVID-19 diagnosis

Cox Media Group