In these past months, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been dominating the media. Many people believed that the virus wouldn’t impact them personally. But now with two confirmed COVID-19 cases in our state of Missouri, there is hysteria everywhere, especially when it comes to schools. Should local districts cancel class? What about after-school activities?

Dr. Curtis Cain is the Superintendent of the Wentzville School District. He has been updating parents, students and staff in the WSD about COVID-19, including the steps that the district is taking to combat the spread of infection.

In an email from Dr. Cain sent on March 12, he acknowledges all concerns and provides answers to our questions. On the topic of closing schools, he assures that the district will make that decision alongside our local county public health department.

“If there is a confirmed case in our county or in our district, we will work together with County Health to determine whether or not to close a school,” Dr. Cain said.

For now, the district is not canceling all after-school events. Instead, they are evaluating each event individually to decide whether or not a cancelation is necessary. As of now, canceled events include:

• The Missouri Color Guard Association has canceled the remainder of the season
• The Missouri Association of Student Councils has canceled the state conference that was scheduled at Timberland High School Mar. 19-21
• The Liberty High School band trip to Chicago, considering the confirmed cases in that region
• FCCLA has postponed its state conference scheduled at Tan-Tar-A Resort
• The DECA State Career Development Conference in Kansas City has been canceled (they are using a virtual platform to determine state winners)

Schools are continuing to monitor student absences and symptoms. The district has also been advised to send sick students home more often than usual as a safety precaution.

In the cafeterias, students will now use individually-wrapped utensils. To prevent all students from touching the keypad, cafe managers also have the option between moving to a paper roster or having cashiers enter student’s PINs.

After students were dismissed at noon as part of the scheduled early release day on Friday, March 13, teachers were instructed to put together lesson plans as a precaution if there is an extended school closure at some point.

There is no imminent closure at this time and schools will remain open.