BRAZOS VALLEY, Texas — A variety of infection rates have been seen at different school districts across the Brazos Valley. In some cases, schools haven’t had to make any changes at all. In others, entire campuses have been shut down.
Reannen Shock, a College Station native, has been concerned over the health of her school-aged children, who contracted COVID-19 in the family’s new hometown of San Antonio, and were both in the emergency room due to symptoms.
“I believe that the schools should shut down until we get a better handle on this," Shock said. "My 14 and 15-year-old have already missed school... [Children] are bringing this home to other family members and children, and that can be very dangerous.”
In Aggieland, Bryan ISD officials shared that they haven’t had to quarantine any sections of their schools. As of Tuesday, 156 students and 32 staff members are considered active COVID cases.
Through a district YouTube video, College Station ISD recently reported 217 active COVID cases in the district.
"Our intention is to keep our campuses open as long as we have the staff available to safely operate the building," Mike Martindale, CSISD superintendent, stated in the video. "If we were to have to close, lost instruction time will have to be made up by either lengthening the school day, removing school holidays, and/or adding days to the school calendar. “
Other districts have also struggled with COVID-19 spikes.
Recently Rockdale ISD had to quarantine its fourth-grade class due to an outbreak. Centerville ISD reported a spike that caused them to deep clean all of their school buildings.
Hearne ISD sent their elementary school and junior high school students home for three days last week after four and then seven COVID-19 cases were reported at each campus, respectively.
"We only had four [elementary] students that had tested positive during that week time, a time in which we were working on closing that campus," said Adrain Johnson, superintendent of Hearne ISD. "But when you look at the number of students they may have been around or close to, that’s why we decided to go ahead and limit the spread and move to remote instruction.”
Some districts have reported a decrease in active cases, such as Caldwell ISD - or, a lack of outbreaks, such as Buckholts ISD in Milam County. KRHD News will continue to monitor major changes in area districts.
KRHD News wants to tell your stories from the Brazos Valley.
If you have news, a feature, sports, or other ideas, please send them to yourstories@krhdnews.com
“LIKE” 25 NEWS KRHD ON FACEBOOK FOR ALL THE LATEST BRAZOS VALLEY STORIES!