Birdville schools closed until Jan. 20 in response to COVID spread
Birdville school district students will have an extended MLK Day holiday weekend after the district announced it will close all schools until Wednesday in an attempt to mitigate spread of COVID-19.
Birdville ISD announced Friday that fine arts and athletics directors will determine if high school extracurricular and cocurricular activities will continue as planned, if staff are available to continue those activities.
The district reported a total of 705 confirmed COVID-19 cases among its students for the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 14, up from 102 to the week before. Among employees, the district recorded 162 cases over the last week, up from 134 the week prior.
The district has plans to update its COVID-19 dashboard to provide daily updates on positive COVID-19 cases, beginning Jan. 20.
Students’ academic calendars will not see any changes at this point and the district is working with the Texas Education Agency to establish free COVID-19 testing for students. The district already offers testing for staff.
“Our reality is that positive COVID cases continue to rise,” Superintendent Gayle Stinson said in the announcement. “We regret the inconvenience that this may cause families, however, it is important for us to do our part to break the cycle of COVID spread within the community.”
