Loretto Academy returns to virtual learning after student tests positive for virus

EL PASO, Texas -- Middle and high school students at Loretto Academy have returned to online instruction after one student tested positive for Covid-19.

Students were only in the classroom for four days before Sister Buffy Boesen, president of the private Catholic pre-K-12 school, made the decision "out of an abundance of caution."

According to Boesen, the student notified the school after she found out her test results. All students and staff were notified immediately after encouraging they all get tested.

Boesen told ABC-7 she contacted City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza and said she didn't have to all the send students back.

"I felt like I need to reassure everybody," she said. "We’ve cleaned the building every night, we don’t have any students to speak of in the building, we have skeletal staff. I just don’t want anybody to get sick,” she said.

When asked if she would make students return to online instruction if another student or staff member tested positive, she said it would depend on the circumstance.

"It happened to be that there were probably 10 kids in the class with this child, but there were maybe 30 or more at lunch."

Loretto Academy has several safety measures in place for students and staff. The each hallway has been separated into two lanes and specific stairwells are dedicated to traffic going up and down the buliding just to name a few.

Students and staff must also check their temperature and complete a screening test before entering the building.

There are no positive cases at Loretto Academy's elementary school. The elementary students who returned for in-person instruction are still in the classroom.