8/18/2021- 9:05 p.m.
The buildings — the district’s headquarters at 2100 Fleur Drive and the Smouse Professional Learning Center at 2820 Center St. — will be closed at least until Monday, two days before students are expected to report back to their own classrooms.
Five of the approximately 30 people who work at the learning center have also tested positive. The numbers of those infected could climb once more test results come in. Currently, eight of the 75 people who work in the district’s administrative building have tested positive for the virus, district officials said.
The exposure to the virus happened on or after Aug. 11, said Phil Roeder, district spokesman. Roeder said “We hope this isn’t a precursor but, at the same time, we fear that it probably is,” he said. “We can only imagine what things are going to look like when there are hundreds of kids under the same roof. Certainly, the delta variant and its impact on young people is of much greater concern, or needs to be a much greater concern, for people than where we were a year ago.”
District officials are watching what is happening at the federal level following President Joe Biden directing the U.S. Department of Education to use its oversight authority, including potential legal action, against state leaders opposing universal masking in schools on Wednesday.
“Our hope may be that if our state government refuses to change their thinking that the federal government will step in and do something to protect our kids and teachers,” Roeder said.
Currently, the district’s options on how to mitigate the spread of COIVD are limited due to a state law that bans mask mandates.
