By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
After only one full week of school, Hays USD 489 has had COVID-19 cases reported at all schools and has had to move to remote learning at Hays Middle School.
No classes were conducted Tuesday at HMS. Students were set to be in remote learning Wednesday through Friday.
Superintendent Ron Wilson via email Tuesday said he did not want to report the number of cases at each location, citing privacy and confidentiality.
He said all of the cases at HMS were staff members.
"... the issue we faced at the middle school this week was that we did not have enough substitutes to cover all of our staff that were in either isolation or quarantine," Wilson said.
"As a district, we are committed to keeping kids on-site, but unfortunately due to staffing issues, we were forced to remote this week to give staff time to get healthy and get through their quarantine periods. We continue to look for more substitutes that can help us get through this school year, so we can avoid having to go remote due to staffing issues."
Wilson said several staff members either tested positive or were being asked to quarantine due to possible close contact. By giving additional time away from the building, Wilson said he hoped to slow down any possible transmission of the virus that seemed to affecting the middle school.
Wilson told the school board at its August meeting finding substitutes would be a challenge this school year. The district increased substitute teacher pay to try to entice more potential substitutes to apply.
Substitute applicants are not required to have teaching certificates. You can apply for an emergency substitute license if you have 60 hours of college credit or more. More information can be found on the district's jobs portal.
Wilson said changing learning models has been difficult.
"It still continues to be a challenge to once again to have to pivot so quickly to online learning, because we know that these kind of changes impact those that are connected to HMS greatly," he said.
"We are hoping to avoid these types of situations, but we also understand that we will need to look specifically at each school and how the virus is impacting students and staff that week.
"Our goal with any short-term remote learning option is to keep students engaged and connected with their teachers and school. We just continue to ask for patience, flexibility and grace as we work through these daily challenges."
In regards to the other schools, Wilson said the district has had COVID cases reported at "all of our schools in various ways."
"However, with the safety protocols that we have put in place, we have managed to continue to operate with minimal disruption to our schools," he said. "We understand that this virus will not be going away soon, and we will have to continue to figure out the best ways to navigate with the lowest impact on students, staff and our schools."