Two weeks into classes, CCISD sees 70 COVID-19 cases

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

With eight days of the 2021-2022 school year completed as of Friday, Aug. 27, the Copperas Cove Independent School District has seen a total of 70 COVID-19 cases so far. 
This includes 52 students and 18 staff cases, according to the district’s COVID-19 weekly case count page on its website, which is updated every Friday afternoon. 
The page can be found at https://www.ccisd.com/322681_2, or at CCISD.com under the “Parents” tab. 
The majority of the student cases are at S.C. Lee Junior High School with 18, followed by Copperas Cove High School, with 11. The majority of the staff cases are at Copperas Cove Junior High with five. 
This year, the district has 7,957 enrolled for prekindergarten through 12th grade as of Aug. 27. 
For the 2020-2021 school year, the total number of student cases in CCISD numbered 295, with staff cases numbering 150 for the year. Those numbers are as per the updates submitted to the Texas Education Agency.
CCISD has also published its COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-2022 school year on its website, which can be viewed in their entirety at https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/1223/covid_protocol.pdf . 
CCISD is continuing to report staff and students with lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases to the local health department as well as report any person who has been in a school and is lab-confirmed for COVID-19 to the Texas Department of State Health Services. 
“According to the Public Health Guidance issued by TEA, if the district is made aware that a student has been in close contact, the district will notify the student’s parents.” 
The protocols define when ill individuals may return to campus, with lab-confirmed students and staff who are asymptomatic being required to be excluded for 10 days. 
“Individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19 but who are not evaluated by a medical professional or lab-tested for COVID-19 must stay home until return to campus criteria are met.”
CCISD has not issued any type of masking requirements for students and staff at this point. 
According to the district’s COVID protocols, in the event the District, campuses or programs are ordered closed during the 2021-2022 school year, CCISD will publish through all available communication channels more information regarding specific updates pertinent to the closure period. The protocols do not spell out the circumstances which would require CCISD campuses to close. 
Other school districts such as the Killeen Independent School District keep an online dashboard of the COVID-19 cases. 
Out of its 43,665 enrolled students, KISD has a total of 168 student cases, as reflected on its website as of Aug. 29. Out of its 6,808 staff, there are a total of 50 staff cases. 
Gatesville ISD started its classes on Aug. 12. and likewise has a dashboard on its website which provides updates on the active cases in the district. 
As of Friday, August 27, there were 111 active cases within GISD. 
Lampasas ISD does not have a dashboard on its website. However, according to its report submitted to the TEA on Aug. 22, there were a total of 27 new student cases and four new staff cases. Lampasas ISD has an enrollment of 3,356, according to January numbers via the TEA. 
Statewide, there is an enrollment of 5,340,108 as of Jan. 29, 2021, according to the TEA. 
Altogether, there is a total of 20,256 student cases statewide, and 7,488 staff cases. 
On Aug. 8, there were 1,247 active cases among students, with that number growing to 14,033 active cases as of Aug. 22. The state’s numbers have not been updated to reflect any new numbers submitted on Aug. 29.