WICHITA, Kansas — The Wellington school district in south-central Kansas has closed all of its public schools because of COVID-19 outbreaks less than two weeks after classes started.
An announcement posted on the district’s website and on its social media channels late Thursday said Sumner County health officials deemed three of Wellington’s six buildings as outbreak schools.
As a precaution, the district decided to close all schools until Sept. 7, the day after Labor Day. It also canceled all sports practices and school-related activities.
The district of 1,500 students had made masks optional in classrooms.
In a statement posted on the district’s website Friday, Wellington Superintendent Adam Hatfield said there were at least 40 positive COVID-19 cases during the first eight days of school. Cases were highest at Eisenhower Elementary, Wellington Middle School and Wellington High School.
By Thursday, the district was testing more than 200 students a day, “so our positive numbers were rising,” Hatfield said. It was only a matter of time before numbers went up in all of our schools. It was only a matter of time before numbers went up in all of our schools to official outbreak levels.
“Through contact tracing we realized that there were many positive cases sharing households within all of our schools. It was only a matter of time before numbers went up in all of our schools to official outbreak levels.”
Sumner County Health Officer Laura Rettig said she wasn’t surprised by how quickly the virus spread. An outbreak is defined as at least five positive cases in one location.
“You’re probably going to see more schools” have COVID-19 outbreaks in coming days and weeks, she said.
“If I can predict the future, you’re probably going to see more . . . across the board have issues.”
The Wellington district is not offering any remote learning options during the closure. A state law passed earlier this year discourages online learning. It limits remote learning to 40 hours per student or schools risk losing more than half of state funding for that student.
The Kansas Association of School Boards had previously warned that the state law creates tough decisions for districts. School officials have to decide whether to hold classes during an outbreak, totally cancel school or offer online education but risk a loss of state funding.
The new law allows exceptions to the 40-hour limit for illnesses or emergencies.
Mark Tallman, of the Kansas Association of School Boards, said the state will ultimately decide what counts when it audits attendance figures.
