MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) -As COVID-19 cases surge across the country, this week thousands of students are returning to the classrooms.
Over 220 Midland ISD’’s students and 90 staff members are currently in isolation from the virus.
As of right now, the district’s current COVID-19 guidelines remain in effect. However, come Thursday MISD officials say it is planning to meet with its advisory committee to update its protocols.
“Given that we are back in school and the CDC updated their guidelines recently, we are going through our stakeholder engagement process to talk to all our different groups as we look at what types of changes to our mitigation strategies could be needed,” said MISD Chief Communication Officer Elana Ladd.
The district plans on releasing those updates Friday to parents, students, teachers, and staff members.
Ector County ISD says its top priority is making sure safety measures are in place.
“We will strongly recommend that all of our students and staff members wear their masks. While we can’t require that at this point, or we’re not requiring it, we are strongly recommending as we have evidence within our own system that masks usage makes a positive impact,” said ECISD Superintendent Scott Muri.
With the CDC reporting the Omicron variant spreads more easily compared to the Delta, the district is preparing to ramp up its cleaning efforts on high-touch contact surfaces and classrooms to ensure students have a safe return.
ECISD will also provide hand sanitizers to students and COVID testing.
“We’ll provide COVID-19 tests so should any student during the school day should begin to display any COVID-19 symptoms. Each of our nurses has been equipped with testing kits and we will use those test kits throughout the day,” said Muri.
Both districts are still encouraging students and staff members to double down on mitigation efforts to control the spread.
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