COVID-19 school dashboard: Cases continue to soar in most recent report

Christine Stephenson, The Herald-Times
·5 min read

Indiana's K-12 schools continued to see large jumps in numbers of COVID-19 cases last week, passing the 100,000 mark for this school year alone.

Around Indiana, 16,337 new student cases were reported in the most recent update of the school tab on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, climbing higher than the previous week's significant increase.

Seven Oaks Classical School student Tyler Neal works on a project with the school’s web design and coding club. The school made the wearing of face masks optional in 2021, despite a county health order calling for the use of masks in indoor public settings.
Seven Oaks Classical School student Tyler Neal works on a project with the school’s web design and coding club. The school made the wearing of face masks optional in 2021, despite a county health order calling for the use of masks in indoor public settings.

There were 1,219 new cases reported among teachers, along with 1,603 new staff cases since the last dashboard update. This school year, 100,624 student cases have been reported in Indiana, while 35,861 cases were reported all of last school year.

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Locally, the Monroe County Community School Corp., Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corp. and other schools in Monroe County are among those reporting sharply increased numbers of new cases among students, teachers and staff.

MCCSC

While all MCCSC schools are reporting data to the state, more specific data can also be found through the district's website on its COVID-19 Information and Impact Page by clicking MCCSC COVID-19 Data for 2021-22 School Year to download the list.

Positive cases are sorted by individuals who have been in a school building, those not in a building and those involved with extracurriculars only. The numbers reported on MCCSC’s website include cases among students and staff combined, and while the state’s COVID-19 school dashboard separates cases among students, teachers and staff, schools reporting fewer than five positive cases have their data suppressed to protect privacy.

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From MCCSC’s own data, from Jan. 17 through Jan. 21, the district reported 126 new COVID-19 cases among students and staff who were in school buildings, or more specifically, among individuals who were present in a school building within 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms or a positive test.

During that time period, 35 new COVID-19 cases among students and staff were reported among individuals out of school buildings for the 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms or a positive test.

The previous week, those numbers were 89 for in buildings and 93 out of buildings.

Data is broken down by day on MCCSC’s chart, but here’s an overview of what the week showed:

  • Arlington Heights Elementary reported eight positive COVID-19 cases among people in the building.

  • Binford Elementary reported eight positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff in the building and two outside of the building.

  • Childs Elementary reported three cases inside the building and one case outside of the building.

  • Clear Creek Elementary reported five new cases in the building.

  • Fairview Elementary reported two positive cases among individuals in the building.

  • Grandview Elementary reported three positive cases among people within the building and two outside.

  • Highland Park Elementary reported three positive cases within the building and three outside the building.

  • Lakeview Elementary reported five cases among people in the building and one outside the building.

  • Marlin Elementary reported two cases in the building.

  • Summit Elementary reported one case in the building and one outside.

  • Templeton Elementary reported two positive cases among people within the building and three positive cases in someone not in the building.

  • University Elementary reported five new cases inside the building and one outside the building.

  • Batchelor Middle School reported five new cases in the building, as well as two outside of the building.

  • Jackson Creek Middle School reported nine new positive cases in the building and four outside.

  • Tri-North Middle School reported seven new positive cases among people within the building.

  • The Academy of Science reported four new positive cases among people within the building.

  • Bloomington Graduation School reported one new case in the building.

  • Bloomington High School North reported 26 positive cases from individuals in the building and six positive cases for those not in the building.

  • Bloomington High School South reported 16 cases among people in the building and three outside of the building.

  • The Hoosier Hills Career Center reported two cases in the building and two outside the building.

  • Among people who had been inside both Bloomington High School North and the Hoosier Hills Career Center, four cases were reported.

  • The Hoosier Hills Career Center’s Child Care Center reported one case outside the building.

  • Three positive cases were reported among MCCSC personnel working inside a building and three were reported outside any buildings.

  • The Early Learning Center reported two cases inside the building.

On MCCSC's website, just the positive cases are reported, not the number of students and staff quarantined. Some schools reported no cases within that seven-day time period. The district’s chart also includes the total number of cases for each school.

R-BB

Within Richland-Bean Blossom schools, there were 63 new cases reported among students since the last state dashboard update, up from 48 student cases the previous week.

  • Edgewood High School reported 10 new positive cases among students.

  • Edgewood Junior High reported 36 new cases among students.

  • Edgewood Intermediate School reported 17 new cases among students and fewer than five cases among teachers.

  • Edgewood Primary School did not report any new cases.

Other schools

  • St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School reported nine new cases among students and fewer than five among staff.

  • Seven Oaks Classical School reported fewer than five new cases among students.

  • Bloomington Montessori reported no new positive cases among students.

  • Clear Creek Christian School reported five new cases among students.

  • Lighthouse Christian Academy reported no new cases among students and fewer than five new cases among teachers.

  • Harmony School reported five new cases among students and fewer than five new cases among staff.

Other schools in Monroe County are marked on the dashboard either as not reporting data or as reporting zero new cases.

The school dashboard can be viewed at coronavirus.in.gov.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington, Monroe County COVID cases up in local K-12 schools