The Hutto Independent School District is closing all campus operations Monday through Wednesday of this week because too many staff members have COVID-19.
“Despite our best efforts to deploy central office staff and all other available personnel to keep our campuses operating safely, the number of staff who are out with COVID-19 has overwhelmed our school district,” Superintendent Celina Estrada Thomas said in a letter to parents Friday.
Estrada Thomas explained that the district had more than 200 staff members out and 160 of them were positive for COVID-19 on Friday. More than 1,680 students were absent, with 545 of them confirmed positive.
Students were already going to be out of school Monday because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but Estrada Thomas said the goal to close for two more days is “to allow time for our staff and students to get healthy enough to return to teaching and learning."
Estrada Thomas also said next week cafeteria menu options will “be limited due to cafeteria staffing shortages.” She clarified there will be enough food, but students may not have the meal options they are used to.
The district is asking parents to send students to school with a mask. Estrada Thomas said staff is also “encouraged to wear masks in situations where social distancing is not possible.”
