Albany sees spike in COVID cases
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany ISD administrators decided to step back and take a day to regroup last week after three student cases of -COVID-19 were confirmed Thursday on the secondary campus, all within the volleyball program.
Members of the varsity, along with two coaches, were quarantined, and junior high players who rode on a bus with them were being monitored this week.
AISD superintendent Jonathan Scott and other administrators made the decision to close the schools on Friday, and both football and volleyball games for the week were cancelled “because the number moved so rapidly from one to four students” who had active cases.
“We couldn’t track the contacts quickly enough to host games,” said Scott during a community Zoom meeting on Friday.
Volleyball games continue to be suspended until next week, with many of the varsity players still quarantined, but both junior high and high school football games are planned for tonight and Friday night.
Homecoming activities, which were originally set for Oct. 2, have been rescheduled and pared down, with only halftime activities at the next home game on Oct. 16. The parade has been cancelled altogether.
At press time on Wednesday morning, there had been a total of 10 confirmed school-related cases, including three staff members, but several of those are no longer active.
There are reportedly several more cases in the Albany community this week, although that number is not yet reflected on the Texas Department of State Health Services -COVID dashboard, which runs behind “real time.”
Classes began as usual on Monday, Sept. 28, with the use of face masks “encouraged across all grade levels” and mandatory for students and staff in grades five through 12 “when social distancing is not possible.”
Although there had not yet been any confirmed cases at the elementary campus, principal John Gallagher asked parents to talk with their younger children about wearing masks.
“Although we understand that masks come with additional challenges, we also know this is one step we can take to continue to keep our doors open and maintain on-campus instruction,” said Gallagher. “Students did well this week and have made the adjustment without issue.”
Disposable masks have been available since the beginning of the school year, but the district is also providing some cloth masks for those who may not have them. These can be taken home and washed for reuse.
Scott said that last week’s decisions were made in anticipation of limiting and/or halting the spread of the illness.
“As of last Thursday morning, the district had only one positive (active) student case,” said Scott. “By noon, that number jumped by three, with the understanding that there were several tests pending results. Due to the uncertainty, I chose to cancel school on Friday to give time to collect additional data to determine what our next step should be.”
The time was also used to clean all classrooms, gyms, locker rooms, offices, and buses.
“No additional positive (school-related) cases were identified on Friday and over the weekend, which allowed us to return to campus Monday,” said Scott.
The day off last Friday will be made up on one of the built-in “bad weather” days on the spring school calendar, with the date to be decided later.
“Friday’s closure wasn’t a panic situation but was time we used to initiate a specific strategy based on the plan developed in the summer, as well as just allow for some distance over a three-day period,” said the superintendent.
