Less than a week after school began, fifth-graders at a Keller middle school are headed back home to quarantine after three staffers test positive for COVID-19.
"I was pretty mad about that," parent Grant Benetar said. "I think it should have been required that before in-person classes started, teachers be tested. I don't know if that would have made a different, but maybe it could have."
According to a statement from the Keller Independent School District, three fifth-grade staff members at Indian Springs Middle School tested positive for COVID-19 and, because of that, all 145 in-person fifth-grade students and fifth-grade staffers will move to online-only classes for two weeks and will remain in self-quarantine.
The campus, which educates grades 5-8, was "thoroughly sanitized and disinfected over the weekend," a district statement read.
"My immediate thought was, how did they let this happen? School has only been in session for three days," Molly Kelley said. Her son, Ashton, is a fifth grader at Indian Springs Middle School. "I have a second grader that's able to go to school and my fifth grader has to quarantine for two-weeks, and to me that kind of defeats that purpose of this quarantine."
As of Monday morning, there are a total of 11 positive COVID-19 cases among the Keller ISD community, according to the district's online COVID-19 dashboard. Of those, four are employees and seven are students.
Keller ISD began in-person and virtual classes on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
