Gadsden ISD now closes 2 elementary schools amid virus outbreak among district staff
UPDATE #3: Gadsden ISD announced late Friday the additional closure of La Union Elementary after an employee reported contact with an individual who is not an employee but had tested positive for the coronavirus
La Union is the second school to be temporarily closed by Gadsden ISD after it closed Anthony Elementary late Wednesday when an employee there had Covid-19 symptoms and had contact with other employees.
"The closure of La Union suspends any online instructional activity which originated at the school but all teachers assigned to the school will continue online instruction from their respective homes. The school will also be closed to any activity on campus," the district said in a statement.
It continued, "The closure includes the operation of the cafeteria and parents will be notified by school messenger where their alternative site for lunch meal pick up will be."
UPDATE #2: Gadsden ISD officials announced Wednesday night that they were closing Anthony Elementary School until further notice after an employee with Covid-19 symptoms had contact with other staff members at the school.
It was the latest potential case for the district, which had eight confirmed cases already in recent weeks, with a new case reported earlier in the day at Desert View Elementary.
Meantime, the Anthony Elementary closure "affects all online instructional programs that were being held at the school by staff who chose to conduct instruction from classrooms there," officials said in a statement.
But they added that the campus closure does not affect the school's online instruction being held by staff from their individual homes, and "those teachers who were on campus may continue their teaching from their home," the statement said.
Parents of Anthony students should go to Loma Linda Elementary and Gadsden Elementary for their lunches until further notice, the district noted.
UPDATE: Gadsden ISD officials said Wednesday that an eighth employee has now tested positive for the coronavirus.
That employee was one who was recommended to be tested after being exposed to another employee at Desert View Elementary School who had contracted the virus, officials indicated.
ORIGINAL REPORT: SANTA TERESA, New Mexico – The Gadsden Independent School District reported Tuesday yet another one of its employees had tested positive for Covid-19 and one more has been recommended to be tested for possible exposure.
This was the seventh Covid-19 case involving a district employee.
A district spokesman said this latest case was an employee who works at Desert View Elementary School.
No students are attending classes on any Gadsden campus and the school board has approved extending remote learning to Oct. 19.
The positive test result was reported to the district’s Nursing Department, which will conduct contact tracing. Other sanitizing procedures are being conducted in the employee’s work area.
In addition, the new case was reported to the New Mexico Department of Health, the New Mexico Public Education Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
All previous cases involving Gadsden employees have been resolved, and the impacted people have been cleared to go back to work following the quarantine period and a negative test result.
