Hays CISD closes campus due to high COVID-19 cases

Sierra Martin | Managing Editor

HAYS COUNTY – Hays CISD will be closing its first campus of the school year due to high COVID-19 cases. Tobias Elementary School in Kyle will be in remote video conferencing for the rest of the week after more than 10% of the campus tested positive for the coronavirus.

According to district officials, a total of 73 students and staff tested positive at Tobias Elementary and triggered the closure. Eight of the 10 current classroom closures in the district are from the elementary campus. 

The campus will reopen on Monday, September 20, just five days after announcing its closure. 

“We have made this decision in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 on your campus and protect the health of students and staff,” officials said in a statement to families.

As of Wednesday, September 15, Hays CISD has 231 active COVID-19 student cases and 32 active staff cases throughout the district.

The district’s standard threshold to move an entire classroom, grade-level, or school to remote conferencing is when there is a 10% or greater positive case confirmation count within a week.

“We anticipated that we would likely see an increase in the number of positive cases on our campuses this year due to the increased number of students attending in person,” The Hays CISD Academic Team said in a letter on September 8. “Our actual data from the first three weeks of school confirms what we expected.”

Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright announced the first classroom closures of the school year on August 31, just two weeks into the 2021-2022 school year. 

Remote conferencing is the name the Texas Education Agency has given a virtual learning option that allows students to access teachers for up to four hours a day with questions about their asynchronous assignments. 

Hays CISD is not mandating masks but “highly encouraging” mask use on their campuses. According to Wright, the district does not have the legal authority or practical ability to require masks but is closely watching the courts and the legislature.

“Closing classrooms has been critical to maintaining safety in about a dozen cases in our district so far this year; but this practice alone fails the test of the second, and equally important, part of our goal – educational integrity,” the Hays CISD Academic Team said. “We know, without a doubt, that the magic between students and teachers happens in-person, in classrooms.”

More information on COVID-19 protocol in Hays CISD can be found on their website. A dashboard updated on school days for active COVID-19 cases in the district can be found here. Child Nutrition Services will be providing curbside breakfast & lunch at the SMS campus for Tobias Elementary School students.

As the school year progresses, San Marcos Corridor News will continue to update readers on the COVID-19 situation in local schools. If you are a parent, student or faculty member and would like to share your story please email news@smcorridornews.com.

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