Texas school district closes for week following staff COVID-19 infections

A South Texas school district temporarily closed this week due to the number of staff members who tested positive for COVID-19, according to a media report.

Runge ISD, about 73 miles southeast of San Antonio, reportedly closed Monday about two weeks after school started. Classes are scheduled to resume Tuesday, Aug. 29, according to a report by local television station KENS5-San Antonio.

The school district keeps an online tracker of COVID-19 cases. On Monday, 10 employees had active cases, amounting to about 23% of its staff. The small school district has just under 200 students, according to the tracker.

School superintendent Hector Dominguez told KENS5 he also tested positive for COVID-19. Dominguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Dallas Morning News.

“We are a very, very small school district,” Dominguez told KENS5. “We don’t have the resources that a large district would have to cover classes.”

Extracurricular activities were also canceled during this time, the report said. The district operates on a four-day school week, according to KENS5.

“The safety and well-being of our students, staff and community is a top priority,” Dominguez said in a letter to families sent Monday. The district’s buildings were also sanitized that day, according to the report.

School leaders will draft a new calendar to make up for the lost school days, the report said.

According to data from Texas Health and Human Services, Texas is experiencing an increase in reported cases of COVID-19 as schools start a new year. Reported cases in the state increased by more than 4,500, almost 30%, the week of August 13 compared to the previous week.