MESA, Ariz. — New challenges have come with the 2020 school year. Planning for pandemic response is on the docket for school districts around the state.
“I can't say the last pandemic this is what we did, so it’s all brand new,” Mesa Associate Superintendent Holly Williams said.
In Maricopa County alone at least 21 schools have seen outbreaks -- defined as two or more cases from outside a single household -- of COVID-19.
At least two schools, San Tan Foothills and JC Combs, have announced they are closing schools as a response to the growing concern.
Other districts, like Mesa Public School District, have had their schools remain open.
The Mesa Public School District is the largest in Arizona. More than 28 cases are in the district, with five of the six high schools seeing outbreaks.
"There are 3,500 people there. It’s the size of a small city. The odds of someone having COVID in a small city is pretty high right now," Williams said.
Williams said the district is taking a case-by-case approach while getting input from county health officials.
"Each school and situation is going to be a little bit different," Marcy Flanagan, executive director with the Maricopa County Health Department said.
"Are they able to make the classrooms smaller? Are they able to spread out the students in the classroom?”
In San Tan, six positive cases meant possible exposure for most of the staff.
“They would be quarantining more than 60% of the staff and several hundred students,” Flanagan said.
Mesa said they have not seen any similar sort of exposure. According to Williams, many of the cases have been spread out, allowing them to avoid more drastic steps.
There is no standard threshold when schools should close, so the final choice lies ultimately with each school district.
“This is not going to be one of those charts that say here and here we do this and here and here we do this because the cases are so different,” Williams said.
“That is a reality of COVID and living in a pandemic."
