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South Umpqua SD 19 temporarily closed high school after widespread student illness, staff says
Summary
District staff reported a recent temporary closure of the high school after a spike in student illness that left an estimated 57% of students absent at one point; staff said the outbreak affected multiple schools and prompted staffing challenges.
A district staff member told the South Umpqua SD 19 board that the district temporarily closed the high school last week because of an outbreak of illness among students. "We had to make the very difficult decision to close the high school last week due to the high rate of illness among students," the staff member said.
The staff member said the district recorded high absenteeism at the high school — "57 percent was the actual total number of students that was out on Wednesday or Thursday" — and that the outbreak also hit other campuses. "It is actually hit all of our schools pretty hard," the staff member said, naming the middle school (Crockett Berry) and the Canyonville area as affected. District leaders said they were still assessing how many absences were for the same illness and that some buildings were closed or had altered schedules for several days.
Board action: The agenda proceeded after the chair called for and recorded a motion to approve the meeting agenda; the record shows the meeting moved forward, indicating the agenda was accepted, but no vote tally for the agenda item was read into the minutes.
The staff member said the district will continue to communicate with staff and the broader community about the situation and next steps.
