School Temporarily Closes One Classroom

PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove School District has reported 12 positive cases of covid-19 in the past three weeks, and with one of the cases, the school announced it was temporarily closing one of its elementary classrooms, according to the district’s Facebook page.

The district posted on Oct. 29 that it had learned “one member of our school family” has tested positive for covid-19 and parents of all students identified as probable close contacts had been notified.

The district said it would temporarily close one elementary classroom and the school was taking more precautions for health safety for students and staff working on-site.

David Kellogg, assistant superintendent, said so many students had been around the one who tested positive that the Health Department recommended it would be best to close the classroom for a short period for safety reasons.

The post said the person who tested positive would be in isolation and those probable close contacts would have to quarantine for 14 calendar days, per the Arkansas Department of Health requirements.

The district has kept patrons informed about positive covid-19 cases among students or staff through its Facebook page, website and school app. The posts do not identify if the case involves a student or faculty member. The posts also do not identify the number of students or staff in quarantine because of a positive covid-19 test.

Most recently, the district reported Monday that it had learned three members of the “school family” had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Other announcements for positive test results the past three weeks have been: Oct. 13, two positive cases; Oct. 16, one case; Oct. 21, two cases; Oct. 23, two cases; Oct. 26, one case; Oct. 29, one case.

Farmington and Lincoln school districts also are keeping their communities informed about positive cases through their websites.

Farmington’s covid- 19 dashboard on Tuesday showed the district has one current active student case and one current active staff case. Farmington presently has two students in quarantine but no staff members in quarantine.

Lincoln’s website shows it has three active positive cases among students with six students in quarantine and one active staff case with no staff members in quarantine. Lincoln has had a cumulative of 10 cases this year.