More than 1,100 students in isolation with COVID-19 cases at Williamson County Schools
Williamson County Schools reported over 1,100 students in isolation with confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Jan. 19, marking the largest reported case count of the 2021-2022 school year thus far.
Just five days earlier on Jan. 14, the district reported over 780 students in isolation.
Between Jan. 11-19, student cases at WCS increased by 521. Prior to this surge, the last time WCS neared this level of positive cases was at the end of the first month of this school year at 544 student and 105 staff isolations, when an initially elementary-only mask mandate was expanded to all schools.
Noting the recent spike, Superintendent Jason Golden told the WCS board of education at its work session Jan. 13 that case numbers are being monitored on a daily basis. Cases are also reported twice-weekly to the state, according to the administration.
Because of current state guidelines and protocol, suddenly turning to districtwide remote instruction is not permitted.
"Positive case numbers in our community grew while we were on (winter) break, and we are impacted by our community," Golden said. "We do not have the ability to just go remote.
"If there is a staffing issue or a student number issue that renders it to a point where we determine we can't stay on campus, we do have the authority to make a request of the commissioner of education, explain the specifics and the details to her of our staffing issues or our student issues related to COVID and make that request based on individual schools and programs."
Coronavirus in Williamson County: Active cases spike during omicron wave
On Jan. 19, 328 staff members were also in isolation with a confirmed positive case, although the jump in staff member cases from the prior report was notably smaller than that of students. The district has not yet responded to a request for a count of overall teacher absences.
Nearby Metro Nashville Public Schools, the larger district by over 36,000 students, also noted a record high of the year with 742 students in quarantine or isolation and 983 positive student cases confirmed between Jan. 10-16.
Wilson County Schools, a district with over 18,000 students, reported 378 positive student cases Friday, which was also a district high for this school year.
At the WCS board's recent work session, Golden responded to community members who reached out requesting information on a Jan. 12 statement from the White House promising to "increase COVID-19 test kits available to schools by 10 million per month."
"At this stage, we have heard nothing from the state about how that might affect Williamson County Schools," Golden said Thursday. "If and when we receive any information related to test kits provided to schools, we will let you know."
On Wednesday, state health commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey told lawmakers the number of reported omicron variant cases seems to be plateauing across metropolitan areas, like Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, as it spikes in more rural areas. However, she added that this week's official data does not account for those who have a case and don't report it to the state or don't take a test to begin with.
Williamson County reported daily new COVID-19 case counts hit a record high of the entire pandemic this January with the surge of the omicron variant.
Anika Exum is a reporter covering Williamson County at The Tennessean, part of the USA Today Network — Tennessee. Reach her at aexum@tennessean.com, 615-347-7313 or on Twitter @aniexum.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: More than 1,100 Williamson County Schools students have COVID-19
