HOUSTON – COVID-19 cases at many Houston area school districts climbed and even multiplied for weeks, but throughout the region, caseloads are dropping dramatically.
The exceptions are Katy ISD and HISD, which started later than most, but even in those districts, less than one percent of students have active COVID-19 cases.
Conroe ISD “active COVID-19” cases are down by more than a thousand from a few weeks ago to just over 500.
Humble ISD numbers plummeted by nearly a thousand in recent weeks to 185 active student cases.
Tomball ISD is reporting 279 student and staff cases total. A dramatic drop from the first weeks of school. Also reported at Fort Bend ISD, where there are fewer than 400 active cases.
HISD cases are climbing, unfortunately, to 1,225 on Wednesday, spread between 280 plus schools. The most cases at one school are 28.
Katy ISD is reporting 800 cases, fewer than one percent of the district. But at Shafer Elementary, at least four percent of the school has COVID-19, at the moment, or 46 cases.
“I’m obviously upset about it,” said parent Tamara Odeh. “It’s all in Katy ISD’s hands and they’re not doing a good job.”
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Katy ISD offers virtual learning options for elementary school kids. Many parents told us they are satisfied with the district’s COVID-19 response, adding that in-person learning is better than the alternative.
“The virtual school, for my kids, they’re ADHD. It didn’t work,” said parent Sherry Rodgers. “They looked at it as fake school and this is real school, so face-to-face really helps them.”
In a statement, Katy ISD said, in part:
“The health and safety of Katy ISD students and staff is the District’s utmost priority as we continue to navigate the challenges of a global pandemic. The District’s safety protocols for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 include free student and staff onsite testing, a self-reporting process, notifications of close contacts, daily reporting of positive cases through the District’s COVID-19 Dashboard. And a virtual learning option for kindergarten through sixth-grade students.”
HISD did not provide a statement.