ALMOST
ALMOST A
ALMOST A YEAR AFTER OUR AREA SAW ITS FIRST CASE... COVID-19 IS STILL MAKING ITS WAY
THROUGH CENTRAL TEXAS
SCHOOLS.
THE KVUE DEFENDERS ANALYZED
MONTHS OF
STATE DATA-- TO FIND OUT WHICH
DISTRICTS HAVE SEEN THE MOST
CASES.
CASES.
CASES. HERE'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
BRAD STREICHER.
BRAD STREICHER. WE'RE ABOUT A YEAR INTO THE
COVID-19 PANDEMIC, HALFWAY THROUGH THE CURRENT
SCHOOL YEAR,
AND SCHOOLS ARE STILL CLOSING
DOWN BECAUSE OF
THE VIRUS.
THE KVUE DEFENDERS FOUND WHICH
SCHOOL
DISTRICTS HAVE BEEN HIT HARDEST
BY COVID-19.
AFTER TALKING WITH CONCERNED
STAFF AND
PARENTS. WE ASKED IF THOSE
DISTRICTS ARE DOING ENOUGH
TO KEEP THE COMMUNITY SAFE.
TEXAS EDUCATION LOOKS A LOT
DIFFERENT THIS
YEAR. STUDENTS LEARNING ON
CAMPUS ARE SEEING FEWER
KIDS IN CLASSES AND PEERS WITH
MASKS ON ALL DAY.
MEANWHILE, A LOT OF STUDENTS ARE
STILL LEARNING
ONLINE FROM HOME. BECAUSE THEIR
PARENTS DON'T
FEEL IT'S SAFE TO RETURN TO
CAMPUS YET.
PARENT
I DO NOT FEEL LIKE IT'S SAFE TO
SEND MY KIDS IN SCHOOL
RIGHT NOW. WE'RE IN A PANDEMIC.
THIS IS ONCE IN A
LIFETIME AND I'M OKAY WITH
HAVING THEM HOME FOR A
LITTLE WHILE UNTIL CASES CAN GET
DOWN, DEATH RATES
CAN GET DOWN AND WE CAN GET
EVERYTHING
BACK IN CONTROL. ADRIENNE
THIESING HAS
GOOD REASON TO BE CONCERNED.
DATA FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF
STATE HEALTH SERVICES
SHOWS THE NUMBER OF TEXAS PUBLIC
SCHOOL
STUDENTS AND STAFF TESTING
POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 EACH
WEEK HAS BEEN GROWING
EXPONENTIALLY SINCE THE
START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. EXCEPT
FOR THE LAST TWO
WEEKS, WHICH WERE IMPACTED BY
SCHOOLS CLOSING FOR
THE WINTER STORM. SO FAR, DSHS
REPORTS 119,810
STUDENTS HAVE TESTED POSITIVE,
AS WELL AS 64,562
STAFF MEMBERS. THAT'S ABOUT 4.2%
OF ALL STUDENTS
CURRENTLY ON TEXAS CAMPUSES. AND
8.1% OF ALL
STAFF. A ROUND ROCK ISD TEACHER
TELLS US SHE'S
WORRIED, TOO.
THERE'S PROTOCOLS THAT WE
CONSTANTLY
ARE GETTING EMAILS PRIDING US ON
FOLLOWING
THEM, BUT STUDENTS AREN'T
FOLLOWING
THEM, STAFF AREN'T FOLLOWING
THEM. IN
CENTRAL TEXAS, DSHS REPORTS AT
LEAST 8,608 TOTAL CASES OF
COVID-19 AMONG STUDENTS AND
STAFF SINCE AUGUST.
THESE ARE THE 5 SCHOOL DISTRICTS
WITH THE HIGHEST
NUMBER OF CASES IN OUR AREA.
ROUND ROCK ISD TOPS
THE LIST WITH NEARLY 13 HUNDRED
CASES.
FOLLOWED BY AUSTIN ISD WITH MORE
THAN 800. THEN HAYS CISD,
GEORGETOWN ISD, AND KIPP TEXAS
PUBLIC SCHOOLS. A
SPOKESPERSON FOR ROUND ROCK ISD
OFFERED AN
EXPLANATION.
"ROUND ROCK ISD HAS LESS
STUDENTS AND STAFF THAN
AUSTIN ISD, BUT THE DISTRICT HAS
HAD FAR MORE COVID-19
CASES, REALLY BY A LONG SHOT.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY?"
"WE HAVE FEWER STUDENTS OVERALL,
BUT
WE HAVE MORE STUDENTS ON CAMPUS.
I DON'T HAVE THE
AUSTIN ISD NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME
RIGHT NOW, BUT
WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF
OUR STUDENT BODY
GOING TO CAMPUS."
JENNY LACOSTE CAPUTO IS THE
CHIEF OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND
COMMUNICATIONS FOR ROUND ROCK
ISD. SHE SAYS TEACHERS,
STUDENTS AND PARENTS CAN REPORT
IF PEOPLE AREN'T
FOLLOWING COVID-19 PROTOCOLS ON
DISTRICT
CAMPUSES. BUT SHE ALSO SAYS THE
HIGH NUMBER OF
CASES MAKES SENSE BECAUSE OF
TRENDS IN THE COMMUNITY.
ROCK ISD
WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS WHEN WE
HAVE HIGHER RATES
IN THE COMMUNITY, THAT'S WHEN WE
SEE THE
RATES GO UP ON OUR CAMPUSES. SO
THE COMMUNITY
LEVEL REALLY AFFECTS AND IMPACTS
THE SCHOOL LEVEL.
WHEN WE LOOK AT WHICH DISTRICTS
HAVE HAD THE MOST
STUDENT CASES OF COVID-19, ROUND
ROCK ISD TOPS THE
LIST ONCE AGAIN WITH 820 CASES.
AND AUSTIN ISD HAS HAD LESS
THAN HALF THAT. JUST 384 STUDENT
CASES, EVEN THOUGH IT
HAS THE MOST STUDENTS.
BUT IF WE LOOK AT CASES AMONG
STAFF. AUSTIN ISD HAS
SEEN 453 CASES. JUST UNDER ROUND
ROCK'S 460
CASES. SOME AISD STAFF SAY THEY
FEEL ESPECIALLY AT
RISK.
ISD DIRECTOR OF HEALTH SERVICES
IS THE DISTRICT'S DOING ENOUGH
TO KEEP STAFF
MEMBERS SAFE? YES. SO WE ARE
MAKING SURE TO IMPLEMENT CDC
AND HEALTH AUTHORITY GUIDELINES
FROM AUSTIN
PUBLIC HEALTH. SO WE DO REQUIRE
MASKS TO BE WORN AT
ALL TIMES. WE DO IMPLEMENT
SOCIAL DISTANCING
WHEN FEASIBLE. AND ONE THING
THAT WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED
ON OUR CAMPUSES IS RAPID TESTING
THAT'S
AVAILABLE FOR ALL STUDENTS AND
STAFF. NOW MANY PEOPLE
ARE PUSHING FOR TEACHERS TO BE
INCLUDED IN THE NEXT
GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO GET THE
COVID-19 VACCINE. THE
ROUND ROCK ISD TEACHER WE SPOKE
WITH SAID IF
TEACHERS HAVE TO KEEP GOING TO
CAMPUS, VACCINE
ELIGIBILITY NEEDS TO BE A
PRIORITY.
I WOULD ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FEEL
SO MUCH
BETTER IF WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BE
VACCINATED, AND I THINK THAT IT
NEEDS TO BE A PUSH
FOR OUR DISTRICT AND FOR
DISTRICTS AROUND THE
STATE TO VACCINATE AND HAVE OUR
TEACHERS
INCLUDED IN THE NEXT ROUND OF
VACCINATIONS A SPOKESPERSON
FOR DSHS SAID IN A STATEMENT
THAT "THE EXPERT VACCINE
ALLOCATION PANEL IS STILL
DISCUSSING WHO WILL BE
ELIGIBLE FOR VACCINATION IN THE
NEXT PHASE." AND A
SPOKESPERSON FOR AUSTIN PUBLIC
HEALTH SAID IN A
STATEMENT, "AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH
HAS PROVIDED
VACCINE PODS TO VACCINATE
ELIGIBLE SCHOOL STAFF.
ELIGIBLE SCHOOL STAFF INCLUDE
INDIVIDUALS
WHO FALL UNDER THE 1A AND 1B
GROUPS." THAT
SPOKESPERSON ALSO SAID THEY
HAVE REACHED ALMOST EVERY
TEACHER IN THOSE
CATEGORIES IN LOCAL SCHOOL
DISTRICTS. BUT DR. ESCOTT SAID
A FEW WEEKS AGO THAT THE RAMPANT
SPREAD OF THE
VIRUS ON LOCAL CAMPUSES IS
FORCING CLOSURES.
HEALTH AUTHORITY
THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT
IMPACT ON THE
SCHOOLS RELATED TO THE STAFF
MEMBERS WHO EITHER
HAVE HAD COVID OR WHO HAVE BEEN
EXPOSED TO COVID. WE'VE
HAD SOME SCHOOLS THAT HAVE HAD
TO CLOSE DOWN
GRADE LEVELS BECAUSE OF THE
IMPACT ON FACULTY. IT
HAPPENED JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO
WITH PFLUGERVILLE
ISD SHUTTING DOWN PFLUGERVILLE
HIGH SCHOOL
DUE TO COVID-19 EXPOSURE AMONG
STAFF. LAST MONTH,
ROUND ROCK ISD HAD TO SHUT DOWN
CEDAR RIDGE HIGH
SCHOOL FOR A WEEK. AND IN
NOVEMBER HAD TO SHUT DOWN
STONY POINT HIGH SCHOOL BECAUSE
OF COVID-19 ON
CAMPUS. THAT THREAT IS ANOTHER
REASON
ADRIENNE THIESING SAYS SHE
DOESN'T PLAN TO SEND
HER DAUGHTER BACK TO THE
CLASSROOM ANY TIME SOON.
PARENT
IT'S JUST VERY SCARY RIGHT NOW.
I DON'T THINK IT'S SAFE
FOR THE KIDS TO BE IN SCHOOL.
AND I FEEL LIKE IF SOMEONE HAS
THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP THEIR
KIDS HOME,
THEY SHOULD. THAT'S A POINT SOME
PARENTS ARGUE. SAYING
SCHOOLS SHOULD HAVE SAFER
PROTOCOLS IN
PLACE SO ALL STUDENTS CAN RETURN
TO CAMPUS AND A
MORE
MORE NORMAL WAY OF LEARNING. THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
UPDATES ITS DATA ON COVID- 19
CASES IN TEXAS SCHOOLS
EVERY FRIDAY.
WE MADE IT EASY FOR YOU TO CHECK
HOW MANY CASES
HAVE BEEN REPORTED AT YOUR
CHILD'S SCHOOL
CHILD'S SCHOOL
DISTRICT
DISTRICT OR INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL. JUST GO TO KVUE.COM/DEFE NDERS. IN AUSTIN, FOR THE KVUE
DEFENDERS, I'M BRAD
STREICHER.
STREICHER.
IF
IF YOU
IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE THE KVUE DEFENDERS TO INVESTIGATE--
JUST SEND A TEXT MESSAGE-- TO
"5-1-2.. 4-5-9.. 9-4-4-2."