3 HISD campuses going virtual after positive COVID-19 cases reported on campus

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Three Houston ISD campuses will be closed on Tuesday and switching to virtual learning after positive COVID-19 cases were reported.

Bellaire High School sent a letter to parents on Monday, explaining that the person who tested positive for the virus is now self-isolating at home.

"Due to privacy requirements, we will not release the name of the individual or any other identifying details," read the letter.

HISD's health and medical services department has started an investigation and all individuals who were in close contact with the person while on campus have been notified.

They will remain off campus until the end of their 14-day quarantine requirement.

Ray K. Daily Elementary was the second campus to report a case on Monday.

Daily Elementary principal Cindy Tiet wrote in a letter that effective Tuesday, the school will be "transitioning to virtual learning as a precautionary measure due to a presumed case of COVID-19 on our campus."

Classes for students who were attending face-to-face instruction will resume virtually at 7:30 a.m.

Teachers will give lessons virtually while the building is closed.

Students who were already participating in virtual instruction will continue as normal.

According to the letter, the campus will be deep cleaned and disinfected during the closure. Daily Elementary families should look out for an email or callout when the campus is cleared to open.

Tiet said anyone with questions can email her.

Forester Elementary School was the third campus to report a confirmed case of COVID-19.

The campus is temporarily closed for deep cleaning, and classes were moved to virtual learning Monday.

The district said parents will be notified when the school has been cleared to reopen.

Monday marked HISD's first day of in-person learning.

Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan visited several campuses and was asked about the decision to open because the state threatened to pull funding if virtual learning went longer than eight weeks.

"I still would be opening school because, you know, and people can say what they want, but we have tried to rely on the science and follow the data, and take that information, not only the information we receive from our city and county health departments, the information that we receive from the CDC. I can say in collaboration with our other medical partners, we've utilized that information to make a decision. If we had been in a situation where we were back at 10-15% positivity rate in the city, then that will be a different type of decision," Lathan said.

Families can track the number of COVID-19 cases across the district by using this HISD dashboard.

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