Horace Elementary students switched to virtual learning

HORACE, N.D. (Valley News Live) - Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, everyone at Horace Elementary School will be learning virtually starting on Friday, January 21.

The West Fargo School Board adopted thresholds for when additional mitigation strategies should be implemented in a classroom, across a grade level, or for an entire school. One key set of thresholds is when 5% of a school’s combined staff and student population is identified as an active positive case. School officials say, at Horace Elementary, that number is 18.

As of Thursday, school officials report 21 active positive cases at Horace Elementary.

“While 21 may not seem like a large number, more than half of these cases are amongst our staff,” explains Heather Leas, Director of Health, Safety and Public Relations for West Fargo Schools. “Between COVID and other leave reasons, we expect to have over 50% of our staff absent tomorrow, Friday, January 21.”

The entire school will be virtual learning starting Friday, January 21, and going through Tuesday, January 25. Students are being sent home with their devices and materials on Thursday. Students are asked to join their teacher on Microsoft Teams at 9:30 a.m. each day. Additional details for the rest of their day will be shared at that time.

West Fargo Schools say further mitigation strategies, including a continuation of schoolwide masking upon return next Wednesday, may be necessary based on case data.