KATY MAGAZINE NEWS
November 12, 2020
By Natalie Cook Clark and Jennifer Miko
Katy ISD has had to temporarily close two schools this year due to COVID-19. The District continues to monitor the cases of the virus on each campus and offers free COVID-19 testing to students and Katy ISD employees.
Katy ISD Works to Mitigate COVID on All Campuses
Katy ISD continues to strive to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at all of their campuses. The District now offers free testing to all currently enrolled students and staff. Initially, appointments were not required for the testing, but when wait times exceeded four hours, the District required appointments.
As of this morning, the Katy ISD COVID-19 test site is fully booked through the weekend. The next available appointments are on Monday, November 16. Testing takes place at the Gerald D. Young Agricultural Sciences Center at 5801 Katy Hockley Cut Off Road.
KISD Students Must Have A Testing Appointment
To schedule an appointment, click here. Results are processed and reported within 15 minutes of getting the saliva-based test.
The District started offering the free, rapid, saliva-based COVID-19 testing on November 6 to all currently enrolled students. The free test is provided in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) COVID-19 Testing Project and is considered just as effective as the nasal swab test.
Katy ISD students may still opt for the nasal swab test that is being administered by RediMD at a cost of $125. Insurance is currently not available through this option. Payment is accepted at the time of service by either credit card or cash.
Active Cases Surpass 300
According to the District’s COVID-19 Dashboard, they currently have 305 active cases and have had a total of 748 cases since this school year started August 19.
Seven Lakes High School was closed October 30-November 3 for a deep clean after positive COVID-19 numbers reached a quick climb.
In a letter to parents and staff the district announced the closure due to a “Corrective Action Advisement received today from the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Department.”
Katy ISD states that any campus will be shut down when positive cases reach 10%. SLHS never reached that percentage, neither did Nottingham Country Elementary that was closed to in-person learning from November 6-10.
“Confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeding 10% of current facility occupancy merit a closure of the campus,” says Maria Dipetta, Katy ISD Manager of Media, Communications, and Multimedia. “However, anytime Katy ISD’s District Emergency Management Team determines that the spread of COVID-19 cannot be mitigated within a student program, campus or district worksite, a partial or full closure of the program or site may be merited.”
Katy ISD classifies the schools’ “Campus Condition Stages” from one to five. Level 1: District Closure – confirmed cases of COVID-19 have exceeded 10% of the current occupancy in 10 facilities or if the District has received direction from the city, county, state, or national executive orders. Level 5: Prevention – no confirmed COVID-19 cases among staff or students.
Four Katy Schools Listed at Level 3
The majority of the District’s campuses rank Level 4 or 5, however, four Katy ISD campuses are currently listed at a Level 3. According to the District, Level 3 results in Modified Operations – confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been determined in one specific area (i.e.: classroom) that could denote a spread of the virus.
Morton Ranch High School
Active Student Cases: 29
Active Staff Cases: 3
Nottingham Country Elementary
Active Student Cases: 13
Active Staff Cases: 5
Active Auxiliary Cases: 2
Paetow High School
Active Student Cases: 20
Active Staff Cases: 8
Active Auxiliary Cases: 2
Seven Lakes High School
Active Student Cases: 20
Active Staff Cases: 2
Active Auxiliary Cases: 1
For more information about the Katy ISD COVID-19 Dashboard, click here.
To self-report a positive COVID-19 case to Katy ISD, click here.