Nampa School District announces five temporary school closures as COVID-19 surges
Five schools in the Nampa School District will be closed for the rest of the week as COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly in Idaho.
The closures come as schools and districts across the Treasure Valley struggle to find enough people to cover for the high numbers of teachers and staff members out sick.
On Tuesday, the Nampa School District had more than 170 staff members out and 72 unfilled classrooms, according to the district’s post on Facebook.
“As many of you are aware, we are seeing extremely high levels of illness in our schools and community,” the Facebook post said. “This is the highest rate of illness we have seen so far this year. We have deployed all available staff and had numerous volunteers step up to assist in covering classrooms and duties, but we are still short of meeting our needs.”
The schools that will be closed through Friday include New Horizons Dual Language School, Gateways, Nampa Early Childhood Learning Center, East Valley Middle School and Centennial Elementary School. Students in those classrooms are expected to return Monday.
“While regrettable, closing these schools will allow staff to get healthy and help us redeploy substitutes to other schools,” the Facebook post said.
Last week, Nampa closed Owyhee Elementary School temporarily after reporting about one-third of its staff members out, including at least five with confirmed cases of COVID-19, spokesperson Kathleen Tuck told the Idaho Statesman last week.
The Nampa School District is not mandating masks or social distancing.
Several schools and districts across Idaho have announced temporary closures as they continue to report increasing numbers of positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff. Last week, the Caldwell School District, along with Sage International and Peace Valley Charter schools in Boise, also closed temporarily.
Health officials have encouraged school districts to put into place mask mandates and other mitigation protocols as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads rapidly in the state, putting further strain on hospitals and health care workers. Few school districts across Idaho are currently requiring masks.
Becca Savransky covers education for the Idaho Statesman in partnership with Report for America. The position is partly funded through community support. Click here to donate.
