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.

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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.

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“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.”

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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.

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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.

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