Angleton ISD offering vaccine clinic as all schools close through end of the week due to COVID cases
About 2.4% of students are positive, but the superintendent explained that the decision is based on more than just that.
ANGLETON, Texas (KTRK) -- Beginning today, all schools in Angleton Independent School District are closed, and school leaders say it's because of spreading COVID-19 cases.
The district will hold a free vaccine clinic at Angleton High School starting at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Participants will get the Pfizer vaccine, thanks to a partnership with the Angleton Kroger.
Recipients will also have an opportunity to get their second dose if they participated in the August 11 vaccine clinic the district held. Anyone who gets their first dose Wednesday will be eligible to get their second dose at a Kroger pharmacy.
The district closure announcement came just a day after Angleton ISD initially said two elementary schools would be closing. Now, the entire district is closed through Labor Day weekend, and will open back up on Tuesday, Sept. 7.
The district's COVID dashboard shows 186 cases across all campuses as of Wednesday morning, and 160 of those are cases involving students. There are about 6,500 students in the entire district.
That's about 2.4% of the entire student body positive with COVID, according to the district's superintendent, Phil Edwards, but he explained that a major factor in all of this is attendance.
"Typically, our attendance rate this time of the year is going to run at 98%. We are at 88%," Edwards explained. "The dashboard only shows kids who are positive. We have kids who are quarantining and symptomatic at home. Those large numbers of exposure and symptoms drive the numbers much higher than what you see in the dashboard."
Angleton ISD is currently not requiring masks on campus.
Students will not be learning remotely during the next three school days they spend at home. The district says it will not be adding any additional days to the school year either.
However, district staff will report as normal to work unless they have tested positive for COVID, been exposed to the virus, or have virus symptoms.
Extracurricular activities at the high school and junior high campuses will continue as planned, the district added.
The administration hopes parents will use the off time to have students tested for COVID-19. School nurses will be on campus the rest of the week to administer tests.
According to the district, parents can call their child's campus and schedule a time to come in and get tested.
As you can imagine, some parents who spoke to ABC13 were not happy to hear that their children would be out of school and not learning the rest of the week.
"If they're going to shut them down, just shut down the ones that need it," one parent said. "Or at least add virtual learning so they can do that. Not shut it down and not even give them virtual learning, so they're not learning anything."
As we start to see more schools and districts shutting down due to COVID-19, it's important to understand that many of these districts do not have a threshold of when they will close.
For example, Houston ISD's superintendent says they're handling everything on a case-by-case basis, which can be frustrating for parents having to make adjustments if and when a school must close.
Angleton ISD began the school year on Aug. 18.
Angleton isn't the only district to close all of its schools for the week. Onalaska ISD announced all campuses would be closed until Sept. 7 as well.
Follow Charly Edsitty on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
