Updated at 8:25 PM with new information from the Richardson School Board.
Some schools in North Texas are switching to virtual learning as COVID-19 cases increase due to the Delta variant.
Richardson ISD is closing Brentfield Elementary School for 10 days due to rising cases and absences among students and staff, school principal Jason Myatt said in a letter to the school community on Thursday. He added that the decision was made in consultation with Dallas County Health and Human Services to prevent further transmission by personal instruction.
Almost a quarter of Brentfield students were absent from classroom school Wednesday, Myatt noted. The school currently has 29 active cases, a total of 41 since school started on August 17. The virtual class starts on Tuesday and runs for the remainder of the next week.
“RISD has determined that the virus was transmitted between students during school activities at multiple grade levels and positive cases and quarantines continue to increase,” Myatt noted in the letter.
Students received iPads on Thursday, and school staff will spend Friday preparing for the move to virtual classes next week. Classroom teaching is expected to resume on September 13th.
Richardson Schools Board will hold an emergency meeting Friday morning to discuss the county’s COVID-19 surge and the possibility of further closings.
Other public schools that are temporarily closed are two in DeSoto ISD. The Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy and Woodridge Elementary switched students to distance learning on Wednesday “due to an increase in Covid-related cases,” Superintendent D’Andre Weaver wrote in a statement.
Friday was already planned as a school vacation. Schools reopen for personal lessons after Labor Day.
Last Friday, seven Woodridge students had a confirmed case of COVID-19 and 36 were in quarantine. One employee tested positive, another four are in quarantine. With Katherine Johnson, the numbers were lower.
Meanwhile, colleges and universities are also trying to cope with the increase.
The University of Dallas has suspended all face-to-face classes on its Irving campus until next week due to rising COVID-19 cases.
President Jonathan J. Sanford announced the closure Tuesday, citing rising COVID-19 cases among students. Classroom teaching is expected to resume on September 13th.
As of Wednesday, the campus had 39 active cases, with students making up the majority of the count. A total of 38 students and one school employee have an active case.
One student was rushed to the hospital, but most of the others who tested positive had mild symptoms, noted Sanford.
The designated beds for students isolating on campus have reached capacity, Sanford noted. If other students test positive, the university will help find isolation places off campus.
“Our hope is that this temporary break will allow us to significantly slow the current spread of COVID in our community so that we can resume classroom teaching for the remainder of the semester,” he said.
Undergraduate students will begin virtual classes on Friday after having the last two days off to transition and having to travel home if necessary, Sanford added. Graduates have already started taking virtual classes.
At Texas’ K-12 schools, officials fear attendance rates could fall as COVID-19 cases rise on campus and more students need to be quarantined. This is particularly worrying as government funding depends largely on how many students come to school each day, so declines could put a school district’s budget at risk.
For example, in Cuero ISD, a small district between San Antonio and Victoria, the school attendance rate in the first few weeks of the school year was around 85%. Usually 96% or 97% of students show up early, Superintendent Micah Dyer said on a Thursday afternoon call between Superintendent and Education Commissioner Mike Morath.
“You are not alone in having abnormally low attendance, and that can have significant financial consequences without some adjustment,” said Morath Dyer.
Last year, TEA used federal funds to keep government funding constant based on previous years’ enrollment numbers.
Although Morath said he did not have the authority to do the same this year, he noted that agency officials are considering whether a low attendance waiver can be granted to the districts on days when there are more students than normal staying at home to keep afloat financially.
“We will make sure that, given the persistent work you are doing to keep the school open and the children’s education up, you make sure that you are fully supported in this,” said Morath.
The DMN Education Lab deepens reporting and discussion on pressing educational issues that are critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control over the Education Lab’s journalism.
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