As Christmas break for schools quickly approaches, the rumor mill seems to be running wild.
“Being off for two weeks the same rumors are going to escalate,” said James Williams, the Superintendent of the Vernon Parish School Board. “They’ll probably spread twice as much.”
However, students should expect to return to class.
“We are not planning on closing the schools at this point,” Williams said.
The Vernon Parish School Board says currently less than one percent of their students tested positive for COVID-19 and only two percent of staff members tested positive.
“We feel like the schools are the safest place for our kids to be,” said Hub Jordan, the Director of Child Welfare and Attendance for the Vernon Parish School Board.
“When we do have a positive case, we are spending a great deal of time trying to make sure we are accurately tracing any close contacts to that individual that is positive,” said Mandie Johnson, the Head Nurse for the Vernon Parish School Board.
“Most of our positive cases come from outside of the school,” Williams said.
“As far as in school, I feel like we are doing an excellent job at taking care of our kids and keeping them in school,” said Shelby Wedgeworth, a Vernon Parish School Board nurse. “We want them there [in class]. We want them face to face.”
