Dozens of Anderson students forced to quarantine days after school resumes

ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — Dozens of students are location from schoolhouse successful the Anderson Community Schools district aft 11 kids tested affirmative for COVID-19.

Classes person been backmost successful league for little than a week, but six classrooms from 4 antithetic schools person been forced to quarantine. The schools nether quarantine are Tenth Street Elementary School, Anderson Intermediate School, Valley Grove Elementary School and Eastside Elementary School.

District leaders said masks are optional astatine Anderson schools and, truthful far, nary plans are being made to alteration that policy.

Brad Meadows, the district’s manager for territory and assemblage engagement, said Monday that the spike successful cases is akin to what the territory saw successful the 2020-21 session.

“The fig of cases is comparatively low. We’re doing this retired of an abundance of caution to marque definite the microorganism is not being dispersed successful our building,” Meadows said.

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He said the program successful spot to support students and unit harmless requires classrooms for kindergarten done Grade 6 to quarantine if determination is simply a adjacent contact. Meadows said those students are mostly contained to 1 room; successful intermediate and precocious school, kids are perpetually moving.

“We bash interaction tracing and spot who their adjacent contacts person been truthful we are not required to quarantine an full people similar we bash astatine the simple schoolhouse levels, but immoderate of those 11 cases person been astatine the precocious school,” Meadows said.

While the schools don’t person a disguise requirement, Meadows said, the territory powerfully recommends them, particularly for students younger than 12 who can’t yet get vaccinated.

He said Anderson schools person besides advocated for the vaccine by holding clinics and giving unit a $150 stipend to get the shot.

“We’ve enactment these mitigation efforts successful spot conscionable to marque definite that determination isn’t a dispersed and that we tin proceed to person in-person learning for those buildings and those classrooms that weren’t impacted,” Meadows said.

News 8 besides reached retired to the the Madison County Health Department astir the affirmative cases. A spokesperson said, “MCHD has not heard from Anderson schools regarding this peculiar quarantine situation.”