Across Kansas, school districts have been forced to close school buildings as part of the ongoing COVID-19 surge. That process has now come to Emporia.
USD 253 Emporia Public Schools has posted on its website, www.usd253.org, that Maynard Early Childhood Center will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to COVID cases and quarantines. Classes are set to resume Thursday if all goes according to plan.
At this time, Maynard is the only Emporia school affected.
The short-term closure at Maynard comes shortly after the district cautioned parents there may be “non-school” days this trimester if COVID-19 numbers continue rising across the district.
Unlike the start of the pandemic, when USD 253 announced both a weekly overall total and traffic by school, the district is only supplying the weekly overall total at this time. On Friday, Emporia Public Schools announced 188 total student positives for last week along with 100 home quarantines and 55 students in test-to-learn. There were also 32 staff positives and 12 staff quarantines for last week.
Several school districts announced adjustments before winter break, with USD 243 Lebo-Waverly closing Waverly Elementary and Waverly Junior-Senior High closing shortly before the break due to an influx of COVID and flu-like illnesses. USD 386 Madison-Virgil went from traditional classroom learning to home-based learning, while USD 417 Morris County started its winter break several days earlier than planned. Since the break, USD 434 Santa Fe Trail reinstated its mask mandate effective through at least Feb. 9.
