UPDATE: More Idaho schools close temporarily as COVID-19 spreads. 1 cites case ‘cluster’

Editor's note: This story was updated Friday, Sept. 3, with news from the Basin School District.

More Idaho schools announced this week they would shut down temporarily because of rising COVID-19 cases.

Payette High School will be closed until Sept. 13, and Snake River Elementary in Nampa will be closed until Sept. 8. The Basin School District in Idaho City was closed starting Thursday and will reopen Sept. 7.

In a letter to parents and staff members, officials at Payette High said the district had been working with families and health officials to identify positive cases of the virus.

“A cluster of COVID-19 illnesses at our high school is evident and we are moving to a short-­term dismissal of students for online learning,” Principal Jacob Williams and Superintendent Robin Gilbert wrote in the letter.

Students in the district went back to school on Aug. 18, just about two weeks ago.

Gilbert told the Idaho Statesman there were 27 absences Thursday and 23 on Wednesday from positive COVID-19 infections. The school had just under 400 students in total last year.

Because Southwest District Health is behind on contact tracing as infections surge, Gilbert said, the school district is relying on cases to be self-reported.

Because of the upcoming holiday weekend and the school’s four-day schedule, the closure will impact three days of learning. During that time, the school will be deep cleaned. High school students are also being asked to stay home and monitor for symptoms. The district is encouraging students and staff to wear masks indoors and when in close vicinity to others.

Payette will continue to play its high school sports schedule during the shutdown, Payette Athletic Director Bob Dixon confirmed in a text message. That includes indoor sports like volleyball, which will institute extra precautions, Dixon said.

Snake River Elementary School in Nampa will also shut down. The school will be closed Friday and reopen Wednesday.

“The increase in COVID cases across our valley is being felt at Snake River,” Principal Karla Reynolds said in a video message. “We have 11 adults out currently. With that many people out and no substitutes, it is impossible for us to continue serving your students in a safe and healthy manner.”

Kathleen Tuck, the director of communications and community relations for the Nampa School District, said 20% of students at the elementary school are out, most of them due to illness. At least nine teachers have tested positive for COVID-19, and two others are awaiting test results. Three students at Snake River tested positive last week, and one student did this week.

Across the Nampa district, schools are struggling with a lack of substitute teachers, making it difficult to keep schools open when there are significant numbers of absences among staff, Tuck said.

On Thursday, the district had 32 unfilled substitute teacher positions, and Tuck expected that number to be worse on Friday. When teachers call in sick, administrators are not required to ask if they have COVID-19 symptoms, Tuck said.

The district also isn’t doing contact tracing, Tuck said. If it did, due to the district’s mask-optional policies, the district would have to send home “pretty much the whole classroom” when students test positive, she said.

Instead, Tuck said schools send letters to the parents of children in a classroom with a positive case, encouraging them to monitor for symptoms.

“We send a letter to all the other kids saying someone in the classroom tested positive, but we don’t follow up on that to see if anybody did anything,” she said.

To help keep schools open, Tuck asked for the community to take safety precautions, like wearing masks in crowded places, and for more residents to consider working as a substitute teacher.

“If anybody in the community could consider working as a substitute teacher, it would make a huge difference in our schools,” she said.

The Basin School District said 131 of its 363 students were out Wednesday due to COVID-19 and the flu.

“The district’s goal is to continue face-to-face learning as much as possible,” the district said in a Facebook post. “After much discussion over the best plan to move forward, we have decided to utilize the three-day weekend in addition to Thursday and Friday to give the flu and COVID a chance to decrease transmission over the five days.”

Students in grades pre-K-6 and 9-12 who aren’t in quarantine or experiencing symptoms will return to school on Tuesday. Students in grades 7-8 will have to quarantine due to “classroom contact tracing” and will return to school on either Sept. 9 or Sept. 13, depending on if they return a negative test, the district said.

“The district understands that this may be difficult for some families. This is the best solution at this point,” the post said. “Please be aware that the plans can change depending on new circumstances.”

Since students returned to the classroom over the past few weeks, schools quickly have felt the impacts of the pandemic. Compass Public Charter School announced earlier this week it would shut down temporarily due to rising infections.

Boise State University warned students classes may need to be moved online if infections continue to rise.

Other school districts have also reconsidered their mask policies. The Caldwell School District this week said it would require masks in the classroom for students and staff. The West Ada School District voted last week to require masks, but to give parents the option to opt their kids out of the requirement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended universal masking in schools as a way to slow the spread of the virus and keep the community safe, especially those who are too young to get vaccinated.