School districts discuss shutting down campuses after sharp increase in COVID cases

WACO, Texas (KWTX) -As cases continue to increase in McLennan county, schools in the area are feeling the effects.

Waco ISD has shifted 3 schools to online instruction in the last few days.

GW Carver Middle School, Indian Spring Middle School, and Lake Aie Montessori have all moved to virtual only.

The question becomes will other schools in the district do the same?

“We just don’t know,” says Dr. Karen Hassell the Executive Director of School Leadership at Transformation Waco.

Right now, the campuses were closed because a significant number of staff has been quarantined, at GW Carver alone more than 50% of the teachers are home sick or being quarantined.

“Our determining factor when a school should close is when they reach a point where we are not able to adequately provide supervision and education for students,” says Hassell.

At Midway ISD they aren’t closing campuses but they are seeing a significant spike in cases too.

“This week we have had more staff COVID cases than we had all school year,” says Midway spokesperson Traci Marlin.

Marlin says the district still feels like they have a hold on where cases are coming from and they don’t feel they should shift to online only.

“We don’t have specific guidance on when a campus should close from our local health department,” says Marlin.

“There is not a direct answer that if you hit this threshold then a campus closes,” she says.

“We still believe the efforts we are taking at school are working.”

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