Small School Districts in Texas, Kentucky Close Due to Surge in COVID Cases

A dose of the Moderna spikevax autumn COVID-19 booster vaccination at a laboratory somewhere in England on Sept. 8, 2022. PA

Most Texas students are back in the classroom, but for one tiny rural school district, back-to-school was short-lived.

A spike in COVID cases forced a small Texas school district to close earlier this week when nearly a quarter of its staff tested positive for the virus.

Runge Independent School District Superintendent Hector Dominguez sent a letter to parents alerting them about the “recent surge of positive COVID-19” infections among the district’s staff and informed them that school would be closed for a week.

“The safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community is a top priority,” Mr. Dominguez’s letter read, according to KENS-TV.

On Friday, the district’s online COVID tracker showed 10 out of the district’s 43 staff members had active cases of the virus. It showed no active cases among its students. The tracker also reports that 22 other staff members and 39 students have recovered from the virus.

Classes were canceled Tuesday, Aug. 22, and are expected to resume on Aug. 29. The district, which serves 195 students across two campuses, is on a four-day class schedule that runs Tuesday through Friday.

The district did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

After-school and extracurricular activities were also canceled until students are back in class.

Runge is a community in Karnes County, about 60 miles southeast of San Antonio, with a population of just over 1,000 residents, according to the city website.

In San Antonio, 1,965 positive cases have been reported since last week on the city’s COVID-19 tracker.

Statewide reports of new COVID cases increased by nearly 30 percent week over week, with 19,696 cases for the period ending Aug. 19, according to Texas Health and Human Services. There were 15,182 cases reported the previous week (pdf).

Texas is not the only state seeing a rise in COVID cases.

Kentucky School Closures

In Kentucky, two school districts shut down classes this week due to widespread cases of the virus.

Lee County School District in Beattyville canceled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday “due to student and staff illness,” the district wrote in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon. Beattyville is about 75 miles southeast of Lexington.

The district said students would have classes at home through non-traditional learning (NTI) on Thursday and Friday.

Ten days after school started, 150 students, about 18 percent of enrollment, were out sick on Aug. 18, Lee County Schools Superintendant Earl Ray Shuler told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

A week later, 157 students missed classes due to illness.

“That’s a lot for a small district of 897 students,” he said.

Sports practices and games, along with other after-school activities, were also canceled.

About 50 miles northeast of Lee County, classes were also called off for students in Magoffin County Schools, the district announced on social media. The district’s first day of school was Aug. 10.

Initially, a high rate of student absences was due to a combination of illnesses.

“We were seeing an uptick in absentees. They were saying COVID, but they were also putting strep throat in there, and there was a virus going around, a stomach virus,” Magoffin County Health Department Director Pete Shepherd told WKYT-TV.

Now, Mr. Shepherd says COVID cases have become the dominant illness report.

Magoffin County Schools in Salyersville serves over 2,000 students across six campuses.

Before school began, the health department was getting only a few requests for at-home COVID tests.

“We started giving them out again, and we can’t get them fast enough to give out,” Mr. Shepherd said.

As of Tuesday, he said the health department had at least 40 confirmed cases in the district, adding that many parents may be using home tests and keeping their children home.

According to Mr. Shepherd, many of the cases have been mild, and “most parents” would not consider giving their children the COVID-19 shot.

“Most parents are just ... their kids are going to get sick with it, we'll hold them home and won’t send them to school. They’re not worried about vaccinations,” he said. “We can’t hardly give a vaccine away now for COVID.”

Mask Mandates

COVID cases have risen nationwide in recent weeks, sparking some businesses to reinstate mask mandates.

Morris Brown College in Atlanta garnered headlines this week when it became the first university in the nation to reinstate a mask mandate.

The school said it implemented the policy following reports of positive cases within the Atlanta University Center Consortium, WANF-TV reported.

In California, Hollywood’s Lionsgate studio in Santa Monica is requiring masks on some of its floors after several employees tested positive for COVID, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Also, in California, Kaiser Permanente expanded its mask policy beyond the hospital to its medical offices and clinics. Patients and visitors are “strongly encouraged to wear masks,” Kaiser told The Press Democrat in a statement.

In New York, Upstate Medical’s University and Community General hospitals issued mask mandates after an increase in COVID cases.

“Effective immediately, mandatory masking is required by all staff, visitors, and patients in clinical areas of Upstate University Hospital, Upstate Community Hospital, and ambulatory clinical spaces,” reads a memo sent to Upstate staff on Thursday, Aug. 24.

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott assured Texans that they will not be required to wear a mask despite the increase in cases.

“There will be NO mask mandates in Texas,” Mr. Abbott wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.