Mount Vernon ISD temporarily closes due to rise in COVID-19 cases

MOUNT VERNON, Texas (KLTV) - Mount Vernon ISD is closing all campuses within the district for the next five days.

On Tuesday, the administration released a statement notifying the district will go back to class on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Officially since school started on Aug. 6, they’ve had to quarantine over 200 students and 19 staff members. Superintendent Dr. McCullough tells us their early numbers showed that the spread of COVID-19 was sporadic and off of campus, but recent data is showing him otherwise.

“Now what we’re beginning to see kinda this week it looks like we might be having a little bit of spread, or a possibility of a spread here on campus. So again that kinda went into the decision as well,” said Dr. Jason McCullough, Mount Vernon superintendent.

According to Dr. McCullough Mount Vernon Middle School is rising as one of the district hot spots.

“We’ve got some middle school kids that are on their second quarantine. And so for the first six weeks of school, you’ve had to miss or go from face-to-face to remote learning two times already, that’s just not the best for instruction or learning for our kids," McCullough said.

Dr. McCullough added that these five days away from campus will give them the opportunity to deep clean and use a disinfectant spray on high traffic areas. The district’s statement included that these days will not need to be made up later in the year.