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By Drew Lawson
The Times 

Schools go remote as virus strikes

 

Last updated 4/1/2021 at 4:12pm



DAVENPORT – The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over yet, and local schools received a rude reminder of that over the weekend.

Davenport High School and the entire Reardan-Edwall School District went to remote learning for this week after cases rose in the schools. Davenport middle and elementary schools followed suit for April 1-2.

In Davenport, eight high school students had tested positive for the virus as of press time March 31, forcing 16 students and two staff members considered close contacts to quarantine. Additionally, three family members and close contacts of students tested positive for COVID-19.

At least two students who tested positive were in the student section at the March 25 volleyball match against Northwest Christian. Anyone who attended that game has therefore been advised to get tested and monitor for symptoms. There may also be contact from a parent who got COVID-19, so tracing the outbreak to its origins has proved tricky for the district.

“It wasn’t just from sporting events, but sporting events seem to have exacerbated the cases,” Lincoln County public health administrator Ed Dzedzy said. “Many students weren’t distancing or wearing masks.”

One athlete on the cross country team and another on the soccer team were among the positive tests.

“We’re not sure how many people were close contacts, so we’re trying to be very, very careful,” superintendent Jim Kowalkowski said.

Around 10 students were given rapid COVID-19 tests March 30 and a “few” more were tested March 31.

Sports games this week were cancelled. Spring sports practices, which were scheduled to begin March 29, have been postponed through next week, which is the district’s spring break. School staff hope to have high schoolers back in-person and athletes practicing for the spring season April 12, but that will be dependent on COVID-19 cases.

“If the counts don’t go down, we may have to hold off on in-person learning a little longer,” Dzedzy said.

No COVID-19 activity had been detected at the middle and elementary school as of press time, so those schools remained open for in-person learning.

In Reardan, district staff learned over the weekend of four students and one staff member who tested positive for the virus, prompting the decision to go remote at the beginning of the week.

On March 30, 103 rapid tests were administered at Smith Gym, and an additional nine students and two staff members were positive for COVID-19. At that time, the decision was made for the whole district to go remote through the end of the week into next week’s spring break.

The school board’s regular meeting, which had been held in person in the district commons, was held remotely March 31 as well.

Over 30 students and staff were considered close contacts to positive tests, including the entire middle school football, middle school volleyball and high school volleyball teams.

“What we’re trying to figure out is, why is this happening now?” superintendent Eric Sobotta said. “We’ve been following these guidelines all year…and this is the first time this has happened.”

Contact tracing has been difficult for the district, as no one origin of this outbreak has been discovered yet.

“We want to keep case counts down and away from our vulnerable populations,” Dzedzy said.

More rapid testing was expected March 30 and 31 at press time. Any student or school staff member needing a rapid test can get one through the district.

All sports were cancelled through the end of next week.

The Times will provide updates on this situation at the schools as more information becomes available.

This story was updated at 4 p.m. April 1.

Author Bio

Drew Lawson, Editor

Author photo

Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.

 

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