Only three weeks into school in Humble ISD, 771 students have active cases of COVID-19, with the number of cases rising nearly 60% from the first week to the second. An active case is one with symptoms or a positive test exhibited in the last 10 days.
Timberwood Middle School has the highest number of cases, with 55, as of Aug. 30. (The district is updating the numbers daily.) Riverwood Middle School has 50 cases; Groves Elementary and Kingwood High School each have 48. A COVID dashboard is linked from the district’s homepage, humbleisd.net, with updated numbers, along with protocols and other information.
There are 130 active cases among the 5,567 faculty and staff.
On Aug. 18, one week after school began, Humble ISD had 355 active cases among students and 481 when counting faculty and staff cases. Six days later, that number jumped to 658. The increase from Aug. 18 to Aug. 23 was 37% in the total number of cases and 57% in the student cases. From Aug. 23-30, there was an 8% jump in student cases and a 30% jump in staff numbers,
Humble ISD is not requiring masks or vaccinations, nor are officials keeping track of who is vaccinated. A partial explanation for the student numbers is that children under 12 are not eligible for the vaccine. Those 12 and older are.
“COVID-19 vaccination is voluntary and a personal choice. The district does not have records on staff vaccinations,” said Jamie Mount, chief communications officer for Humble ISD.
Mount said the district has sent emails to faculty and staff about vaccination clinics being held in conjunction with partner providers.
“Humble ISD staff are not required to report COVID-19 vaccination status. The district does not maintain information on COVID-19 vaccination status. Regarding students, we follow TEA guidelines. Humble ISD will require that students or staff with COVID-19 remain home until reentry criteria has been met,” Mount said.
“Students and staff may return 10 calendar days after onset of symptoms or date of positive test and 24 hours symptom-free without medication (ex. fever-free without medication). If the individual is symptomatic, the 10 days count from the onset of symptoms. If the individual is asymptomatic, the 10 days count from the date the individual was tested.”
“Humble ISD will require clearance from a physician before students who test positive for COVID-19 resume participation in UIL athletics or marching band. This is a UIL requirement,” she said.
