Midway ISD has not made the decision to close Midway High School over COVID-19 cases yet, but are temporarily closing extracurricular programs and quarantining people directly exposed.
Several Waco ISD schools transitioned to remote-learning after COVID-19 cases increased.
Superintendent Dr. George Kazanas said while nothing is off the table regarding COVID-19, "we are not at this moment planning to close Midway High School in response to the current cases."
"Because the majority of current cases are confined to extracurricular programs, we are temporarily closing programs rather than schools, and quarantining the people directly exposed," Kazanas said.
The programs affected by cancellation of practices and competitions are volleyball and JV boys basketball, with preventative measures such as restricted travel and some quarantines for football, baseball, the dance team, and marching band.
Multiple middle school athletic competitions were canceled because they were scheduled against opponent schools who have temporary closed.
According to the district's online dashboard, there are 14 active cases at Midway High and 3 active cases at the middle school.
"In the current circumstances, it is counterproductive to close the campus because many of the students involved are already virtual students and only participating in extracurriculars," he said. "In addition, until this point we have experienced that nearly all of the spread has been from community and personal activities outside of school, whereas safety protocol on campuses for the general student population have been very effective. Should all students convert to virtual learning, we have no way to limit social situations and implement safety protocols."
Superintendent Kazanas says they will continue to closely monitor every case and to consult with healthcare professionals in decision-making, keeping safety as number one priority in school and to the extent feasible out of school.
