Clyde Hamrick Elementary School closed today (Nov. 5) because of positive COVID-19 tests among its staff members.
It is the second Fox C-6 School District building to temporarily close because more than 5 percent of its staff members tested positive for the virus,
The Fox district announced Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 4) that the school, 4525 East Four Ridge Road, in Imperial would close beginning today. It is expected to reopen on Monday, Nov. 16.
Three of Hamrick’s 54 staff members (5.5 percent) have tested positive for the virus, according to Fox’s COVID-19 dashboard today (Nov. 5).
Fox announced Monday night (Nov. 2) that Simpson Elementary, 3585 Vogel Road, in the Arnold area, had to cease in-person learning for 10 days because of COVID-19.
Simpson students are expected to resume in-person instruction on Nov. 16 as well, the district reported.
Fox’s COVID-19 dashboard showed that of Simpson’s 64 employees, five have tested positive for the virus as of today. That is 7.8 percent of its staff.
“Our teachers are working hard to make sure our students still get the same level of instruction as they would have in person,” Superintendent Nisha Patel said. “The important thing to note is that with both of these closings, students will only miss two days of in-person learning out of the 10-day closure. We already had professional development days and parent-teacher conference days (Nov. 12-13) scheduled within these days, and Wednesdays are already our virtual days.”
JP Prezzavento, Fox’s communications and instructional technology coordinator, said the district closes schools temporarily if more than 5 percent of a building’s staff or student population test positive for the virus.
Hamrick has 406 students, and 325 students are enrolled in Fox’s Flexible Learning Plan, which has about half of students attending class in person on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays. The school’s other 81 students are in the district’s Virtual Academy, which is Fox’s online-only instruction program.
As of today, Fox’s dashboard shows that two Hamrick students were not attending school in person after testing positive for the virus.
The dashboard also indicates one Simpson student is not attending class in person after testing positive for the virus. Simpson has 257 of its 346 students enrolled in the district’s Flexible Learning Plan, and it has 89 students enrolled in the Virtual Academy.
Fox began the 2020-2021 school year Aug. 27, with about 77 percent of students enrolled in the district’s Flexible Learning Plan, attending in-person classes two days a week and learning online the other days. The other 23 percent are enrolled in the Fox Virtual Academy, learn entirely online from home.
Of the students enrolled in the Flexible Learning Plan, half go to school on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays, with those students learning from home the rest of the school week.
The district was scheduled today to expand in-class instruction from two days a week to four days a week for students in kindergarten through second-grade students. However, that plan was put on hold after the Jefferson County Health Department announced on Monday afternoon that the county was again moved into the red status on the agency’s COVID-19 warning system.
When the county, which has a population of about 225,000 people, has a rolling average of 25 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents per day, it is moved to the highest level on the system – the red level, which calls for more mitigation to curb the spread of the virus.
Since Oct. 7, the county had been in the orange level, the second highest level, which indicates widespread but controlled transmission of the virus.
On Monday, the Fox district said in a letter to parents that Nov. 16 would be the earliest date it could increase the in-person instruction for kindergarten through second-grade students. The district also said it would increase in-person instruction on that date only if the county is no longer in the red status on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The Health Department typically updates the county’s status on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
“We have gone through more than a quarter of some level of in-person learning now at Fox C-6,” Patel said. “That is due to the diligence shown by all of our students and staff in adhering to the mitigating factors we have put in place. However, the high rate of uncontrolled transmission in the community is definitely beginning to have its impact on the schools.”
Fox has 11 elementary schools, four middles schools and two high schools, along with the Don Earl Early Childhood Center and the Bridges Alternative School.
Patel said it is difficult to close school buildings during the school year, and the district works with the Health Department when decisions to close buildings need to be made.
The superintendent said Fox closes schools to keep students and staff safe.
“My hope is that we continue to take all the precautions needed and provide our students with a safe learning environment,” Patel said.
The Crystal City School District closed its buildings on Tuesday after staff and students tested positive for the virus or were exposed to it.
Two staff members and one student tested positive for COVID-19, and 16 staff members and 47 students are in quarantine because they were exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus, Superintendent Matt Holdinghausen said.
