Notification of Confirmed COVID-19 Case in GSISD as of September 17

Notification of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in GSISD from Superintendent

Dear Parent/Guardian,

In keeping with Grand Saline ISD’s practices to respond due to COVID, we are notifying all student families and community members that I was confirmed to have COVID-19 on September 16, 2020 and was last in the district Friday, September 11. I experienced classic COVID-19 symptoms starting Monday of this week. There are no close contacts except my household who will self-isolate based on the health department standards.
A Middle School student who has been confirmed to have COVID-19 was last on campus Friday, September 11. A second middle school student who has also been confirmed to have COVID-19 was last on campus Thursday, September 17. Due to privacy requirements, we will not be releasing the name of the individual or details that may identify him or her.
We are working closely with the local health department on this matter. After careful review, we have determined that the COVID-positive individuals came into close contact with a limited number of people who will self-isolate based on health department standards. Operations at the Middle School will continue as usual, and we will keep you apprised of further updates.
While we do not have reason to believe that those who were not in close contact with the infected individual have reason to be concerned, we ask that you, as always, to watch for symptoms of COVID-19.

Any of the following symptoms indicate a possible COVID-19 infection:

- Temperature of 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth;

- Sore throat;

- New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (or, for students with a chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline);

- Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain; or

- New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever.
If you or any member of the Grand Saline ISD community does begin experiencing any of these symptoms in a way that is not typical, we encourage you to contact your physician.
At this time, we have had a total of 13 confirmed cases in GSISD - 8 staff members and 5 students. Active cases as of today are 4 staff and 5 students. We will be putting a dashboard on our website www.grandsalineisd.net so the Grand Saline community can quickly see the status of our COVID-19 situation. We will update as information changes.

GSISD requires all staff and students to wear face coverings at school except by Governor’s exception. We still ask that all students regardless of age wear face coverings.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at 903-962-7546 or by email at micah.lewis@grandsalineisd.net

Sincerely,

Micah Lewis

Superintendent