La Grande High School

LA GRANDE — The La Grande School District’s COVID-19 infection rate has dropped significantly for the second week in a row.

La Grande School District statistics show that nine students missed school during the week of Oct. 25-29 because of positive COVID-19 tests, COVID-19 symptoms or close contact with those who have COVID-19. That number is down eight from the week of Oct. 18-22 when 17 students missed school because of COVID-19 and 48 from the week of Oct. 11-15 when 57 missed school because of COVID-19.

“This is very promising. I hope we can keep our numbers this low for a long time,” said La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza.

The school district’s statistics indicate that no staff members were absent during the week of Oct. 25-29 due to positive COVID-19 tests, symptoms of the disease or close contact with someone who has it. This marks the fourth week in a row that La Grande School District did not have any staff out because of COVID-19.

The district’s latest statistics, based on reports to school district nurses, indicate that just one student from Greenwood Elementary School was out due to testing positive for COVID-19. This matched the Oct. 18-22 total and is down dramatically from the week of Oct. 11-15 when nine students were out due to positive COVID-19 tests.

A total of eight students were being quarantined the week of Oct. 25-29 due to close contact with someone with COVID-19 or suspected of having COVID-19. Three were from Greenwood Elementary School, two each from Central Elementary School and La Grande High School and one from the district’s Explore program, which is based at La Grande Middle School.

Mendoza said if the school district’s COVID-19 rate stays low, talks with representatives of Grande Ronde Hospital, the Center for Human Development and other community partners will begin about whether it should move into a less restrictive environment under the rules of the low risk category of its 2021 Communicable Disease plan. The school district is presently in the moderate risk category.

Moving into the low risk category would allow the school district to increase its number of volunteers, Mendoza said. The move, he said, would also put the school district a step closer to being able to again have school assemblies and allow students to mix with others of different grade levels at recess.

{div id=”highlighter–hover-tools” style=”display: none;”} {/div}