
Texas ISD Closes For Rest Of January Due To High Flu Spread
It's pretty extreme for a school to shut down for an entire day- let alone for three.
However, a North Texas ISD made the call to call it quits- for the rest of January at least.
Godly ISD serves Godly, Texas, a town south of Fort Worth, and the surrounding area. It was recently hit hard with student and staff flu cases.
According to the school's website, the school district has six campuses and serves approximately 3,000 students. It consists of a high school, middle school, 6th grade campus, three elementary schools, and an alternative education campus.
From their website:
Due to widespread flu and other illness among students and staff, Godley ISD will be closed for the rest of the week and will reopen on Monday, Feb. 3. Just today, almost 650 students were absent with all campuses reporting low attendance rates in the 70-80% range; several more students went home sick from school throughout the day.
The website's pop-up notice suggested parents use this time to get their children well, and staff would utilize deep cleaning and sanitization procedures.
Given that Texas schools receive funds "per capita" this decision will likely result in a financial loss for the school district next year. From the TEA:
Districts and charter schools receive these "per capita" payments based on prior-year average daily attendance (ADA). The payment rate per ADA (the distribution rate) is adopted each year by the State Board of Education.
This may serve as a sobering reminder of just how quickly and severely the flu can spread when sick students are not kept at home by their parents.
According to Texas Children's Hospital, nearly 200 children nationwide die from flu complications. So it's better safe than sorry- even if next year's budget takes a hit.
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