CONNALLY, Texas — A central Texas school district temporarily shuttered its schools Tuesday after two teachers died of COVID-19 last week.
Connally Independent School District announced the closures Monday after two middle school social studies teachers, David “Andy” McCormick and Natalia Chansler, died within one week of each other from the virus, SanAngeloLive.com reported.
“Any of our staff (who have) been identified as close contacts, we ask them to be tested every other day,” Assistant Superintendent Jill Bottelberghe said in a prepared statement.
The suburban Waco system includes five schools.
In person classes are slated to resume after Labor Day, and students will continue their studies remotely in the interim. Meanwhile, all classrooms will undergo deep cleaning and sanitation during the weeklong closure, the news outlet reported.
“Our hope is that the closure and holiday break will provide those who are positive with the virus or exposed to others with the virus, the time to isolate and recover,” Connally ISD stated, noting the closure is “in line” with recommendations from the McLennan County Health Department.
Bottelberghe confirmed that Chansler, 41, taught sixth grade at Connally Junior High School and 59-year-old McCormick taught seventh grade. It was not immediately clear if either teacher had been vaccinated against COVID-19, CBS DFW reported.
“They were at two different grade levels even though they worked under the same content area, but we have recognized that there has been an increase in spread as far as throughout our student body at those two grade levels,” Bottelberghe told the TV station.
Bottelberghe also said that Connally Junior High School has reported 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases since classes began Aug. 18, CBS DFW reported.
The district will offer COVID-19 rapid testing for students, parents and staff and host a free Sept. 13 vaccination clinic in the Connally High School gymnasium, SanAngeloLive.com reported.
The rolling seven-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in Texas was 15,400 and 200, respectively, as of Sunday, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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