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Nearly a month after students returned to the classrooms for the new school year, three schools in Middle Tennessee are temporarily closing due to staffing outages related to the pandemic.
On Friday (August 27), Rutherford County Schools (RCS) confirmed that three of its schools, Christiana Middle School, Blackman Middle School and Rockvale Elementary School, will face closures throughout next week, WSMV reports.
Here is the schedule for when each school will be closed:
- Christiana Middle School: Closed Monday
- Blackman Middle School: Seventh grade closed Monday and Tuesday
- Rockvale Elementary School: Grades 3-5 closed Monday through Wednesday
According to RCS Communications Director James Evans, the temporary closures will "allow several staff members who are on quarantine to clear those quarantines and return to operate the classrooms."
"The temporary closures are always a last resort when it becomes necessary because of staff outages related to COVID-19," he said.
No other information regarding the schools' closing has been announced, but officials are contacting parents about plans for remote learning during the closures.
According to the news outlet, Friday's announcement follows several other districts around the state that have announced temporary closures due to staffing outages, including schools in Coffee, Maury and Cheatham Counties.
On Friday, Wilson County Schools also announced that all of its schools would close due to a "strong surge" in COVID cases, per FOX 17. Kids Club and extracurricular activities will continue as scheduled.
"While it's not our desire to issue this closure, we do strongly feel that this closure is necessary based on our current attendance trends among students, teachers, and staffs," district officials said. "We sincerely ask that all our families, students, teachers and staffs practice safe health methods during this time. We care deeply about every one of you, and we're hopeful that by taking this time away from our schools, it will allow us to slow this unfortunate health trend."