Multiple South Plains School Districts Report COVID-19 Exposures

As schools begin to reopen, the coronavirus has shown itself on multiple campuses in the South Plains. While some school districts are choosing to continue face-to-face instruction, at least one school district is moving classes online for a few weeks.

According to a press release, in the last week several COVID-19 cases have been confirmed on 9 different campuses by Lubbock ISD. The list of exposed campuses includes Estacado High School, Coronado High School, Smith Elementary, Wester Elementary, Hodges Elementary, Honey Elementary, Guadalupe Elementary, Roscoe Wilson Elementary and Cavazos Middle School.

Despite the exposures, Lubbock ISD is reassuring the public that exposure risk at these campuses is minimal due to their COVID-19 protocols. So far, LISD has not issued any campus shutdowns and says face-to-face instruction will continue.

On Saturday, August 22nd, Frenship ISD also put out a statement confirming that North Ridge Elementary was exposed to COVID-19, a first for the district, but no campus shutdown was announced.

In contrast, the Spur Independent School District announced Sunday, August 23rd, that they’ll be temporarily switching to virtual learning after an employee and several students tested positive for COVID-19. Virtual learning for all Spur ISD students will last for two weeks, with in-person classes resuming September 7th, 2020. According to the district, those who tested positive are currently in quarantine.

On August 20th, State Education Commissioner Mike Morath made an announcement that all Texas schools will be required to report their daily confirmed cases of COVID-19. The State Health Department will use the data collected to develop a COVID-19 tracking system that will be available to educators, parents, and policymakers.