IDAHO, USA — Update: The Bruneau-Grand View School District on Wednesday announced that all schools will be closed and moving to online learning for Thursday, Jan. 20, due to illness. All games and practices are canceled or postponed until Monday, Jan. 24.
The Wilder School District is moving all grade levels to remote learning through end of the week, according to Superintendent Dr. Jeff Dillon.
The district rapid-tested high school students Monday. Of the tests performed, 20% to 25% came back positive; meanwhile, 70% of middle school teachers are experiencing COVID symptoms. As for the elementary school students, Dillon said 25% were absent from class Tuesday.
"Our students have been very resilient," Dillon said. "Knowing that there are asymptomatic students out there as well as symptomatic students, it just made sense to send the students home and continue learning. That was the goal."
Horseshoe Bend School District is facing similar problems. The district does not have enough staff or substitutes to continue in-person learning for elementary school students, a district Facebook post said. Nearly 60% of elementary school students missed class; this has led the district to cancel elementary classes for the entire week. Horseshoe Bend elementary schools return to class Jan. 24th, according to the post.
It's cancellations like these the Twin Falls School District is looking to avoid entirely.
"I think keeping schools open is a real concern for every school district official across the state right now," TFSD Director of Public Relations Eva Craner said.
TFSD had 18 certified teachers out Tuesday spread across the district's 16 schools. None of these positions had substitutes, leading to empty classrooms.
"We're playing a game of Tetris, trying to fill in where we can to make sure that things continue to operate," Craner said. "We're doing things like splitting up classrooms and sending half the class to (one) third-grade classroom and the other half to another third-grade classroom. We have administrators that are filling in in classrooms. Our teachers that are in the building are giving up their prep time to fill in for their colleagues that may be out sick."
Craner also said TFSD is committed to providing in-person learning long as the district has the necessary staff to operate, but she anticipates "lots of sleepless nights" over the next few weeks.
"This is a tough time for parents. Asking them to leave work and say home with their students because they can't be here at school," Dillon said. "We apologize for the extra that we're putting onto them."
Anyone interested in working as a substitute is encouraged to reach out to a local school district.
The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance has created a professional substitute training program for those interested.
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