Richardson ISD student COVID-19 cases have already reached 28% of last year’s entire total

In just under two weeks, Richardson ISD student COVID-19 cases have reached 28% of the total number that was reported throughout the entire previous school year.

“Last year, we had a total of 1,854 positive students cases for the entire school year,” Superintendent Jeannie Stone said in a video presentation. “For the new 2021-22 school year, we already have 525 positive student cases and we are just completing the fourteenth day of school.”

The district closed Brentfield Elementary School last week for 10 days because of rising cases and absences among students and staff. Virtual instruction for Brentfield students is expected to begin Tuesday.

Nearly 25% of Brentfield students were absent from school as of Wednesday last week, The Dallas Morning News reported.

The 910-student campus has had 42 cases since the school year began and 30 cases were active as of Monday, according to the district’s website.

Across the district, 120 or 1.66% of the total 7,225 employees have tested positive for the virus.

Among the 37,339 students, 561 or 1.5% have tested positive.

As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread, and positive cases increase among students, parents of students in the district are being asked to have their children follow safety measures such as wearing a mask while indoors and getting vaccinated if possible.

The district is continuing to monitor case levels and absences. A 15% absence threshold is being used to determine when to seek guidance from Dallas County Health and Human Services on individual schools.

The district posts regular COVID-19 updates online.