North Texas school districts cancel classes due to various illness outbreaks
NORTH TEXAS – Due to outbreaks of illnesses, many North Texas school districts will be closed the rest of the week.
Rio Vista ISD, located within Johnson County, announced they will be closing schools the rest of the week due to widespread illnesses. Jan. 25 and 26 will function as work days for staff and for deep cleaning to occur.
Olney ISD also says they have excessive absences due to illnesses. They expect classes to resume on Jan. 29. Classes were initially closed for a few days earlier in the week, but the district extended the closures. OISD maintenance staff will be sanitizing all facilities, the district said.
Graham ISD announced it will be closed on Jan. 25 due to an excessive number of illnesses. Jan. 26 was already a scheduled school holiday, so classes will resume Jan. 29.
Garner ISD and Archer City ISD will also be closed for the rest of the week because so many staff and students are sick.
Children's Health Systems said that last week, there were 407 hospitalizations related to the flu – a 40% increase from the week prior.
Doctors say the cold temperatures could be a factor in the increase.