Three more Tacoma schools to close after positive coronavirus results
Three more schools in Tacoma will close this week after individuals at each school tested presumptive positive for COVID-19, Tacoma Public Schools announced Monday evening.
Sheridan and Lowell elementary schools will be closed Tuesday through Friday (March 10-13). All before- and after-school activities are canceled.
Wilson High School will be closed Tuesday, March 10. All before- and after-school activities are canceled there as well, including athletics.
Mary Lyon Elementary will remain closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The district originally announced Mary Lyon’s closure on Saturday.
It is not clear how many individuals have tested positive or whether those individuals were staff or students. Tacoma Public Schools spokesperson Dan Voelpel directed all further questions to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The district will use the closure time to clean the schools.
The closure also will allow the health department to identify others who may have been exposed.
The district will not share any information unless it is verified by the county health department, it said.
“We are not allowed by law to share identifying information about the individuals,” the district stated on its website.
Superintendent Carla Santorno made the decision to close the schools at the recommendation Anthony Chen, director of health with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
“The decision to close schools is not taken lightly. We know that family schedules often revolve around students. We also understand that this news can be upsetting,” the district said on its website.
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 7:31 PM.
