2 Canutillo ISD schools returning to remote learning due to Covid outbreaks

CANUTILLO, Texas -- The Canutillo Independent School District said it would be temporarily closing Canutillo Middle School and Jose Damian Elementary School due to Covid-19 outbreaks.

A spokeswoman for the school district told ABC-7 that students from both schools would be returning to remote learning because of an increase in coronavirus cases reported on their campuses.

The two schools will also undergo a disinfection process on Friday, according to the district.

Word of the Covid spikes comes after ABC-7 recently reported that Canutillo schools were desperately looking to fill numerous custodian vacancies; officials said the shortage was forcing them to rotate janitorial staff among the schools, with some parents complaining of dirty classrooms.

"My son has actually tested positive for Covid and I blame the school," said Katie, a parent and a former substitute teacher at Jose Damian Elementary, who asked that her last name not be used.

She told ABC-7 that six teachers had Covid-19 last week, some of whom she was exposed to. Because of this, both she and her 5-year-old son began quarantining. Five days later, she said her son tested positive for Covid and went to the hospital.

"He had a fever of 105.3 degrees last week, his cough, he was throwing up - he had probably the worst symptoms that I've seen with Covid," she said,

According to the school district's Covid-19 dashboard, there were a total of 87 cases reported during the week of Nov. 1. That's an increase Katie claims is the school district's fault due to a lack of janitors.

"Teachers were sweeping and mopping their own classrooms," she said. "Classes weren't being cleaned for like a week at a time, bathrooms weren't being cleaned, so I wasn't surprised. If nothing is being cleaned, what do you expect to happen?"