We're not even a month into the return of the new school year and we are already witnessing closures due to outbreaks of COVID-19 in several communities.

Many districts started with just "one" school closure but now entire districts are now been forced to shut down for days at a time which has in turn, lead many districts to either ignore Governor Abbott and the Texas State Supreme Court blocking of mask mandates in schools, or find loopholes to go around it like adding masks to school dress codes.

Districts like Longview ISD have imposed a temporary mask mandate while Carthage ISD will be requiring students to wear masks on buses.

As of Sunday, August 29th, we know of 6 East Texas School Districts that have been forced to close at least through this week due to rising cases in their areas with plans to reopen on September 7th according to KETK. Here's the ones that we know of as of right now:

GARRISON ISD

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KENNARD ISD

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MURCHISON ISD

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MARTINSVILLE ISD

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WELLS ISD

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WEST SABINE ISD

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So far since the start of the school year, 8 districts in total have shut down. The Waskom and Woden districts were the first to close and Hughes Springs ISD cancelled a Friday night game versus Arp.

Do you believe its time for students to return to online school because of the rising numbers or let the trend of shutting down and reopening continue?

 

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