BEDFORD, Texas — Third grade students and their siblings at Meadow Creek Elementary in Bedford will all learn online starting Friday to "help prevent the spread of COVID," school officials said Thursday.
The campus "is experiencing a high number of positive test results for COVID-19 in the third grade," said HEB ISD Superintendent Steven A. Chapman in a letter to parents.
For now, students are expected to return to campus on Tuesday, Sept. 7, after the Labor Day holiday.
Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) has also required that siblings in the same household of third grade students must quarantine for the same period of time, Chapman said.
It's not the first district to suspend in-person classes due to a rise in COVID cases. Kemp ISD in Kaufman County canceled classes at all of its campuses for the rest of this week after the first week of school ended with 112 students and 30 staff members testing positive for the virus, according to the superintendent.
HEB ISD shared additional information:
- School is NOT closed. All students are expected to participate in online learning each day. Teachers will communicate the expectations for their classes.
- HEB ISD Online Learning information website includes expectations, tips for success, and technical support resources: https://sites.google.com/hebisd.edu/onlinelearning
- Same-household siblings of 3rd graders are also quarantined, by order of Tarrant County Public Health. If your 3rd grader has siblings in the same household, please call or email the office at the school the sibling attends. Each school will provide instructions for their own quarantined students.
- Classrooms and common areas will receive additional cleaning and disinfecting before these students return to the building. This includes the use of electrostatic sprayers with disinfectant that meets or exceeds guidelines set by the CDC and approved by the EPA for use in treating COVID-19.