Local News
Longview Schools Cancel Classes for the Week Due to Illness Outbreak
“Following an administrative meeting this afternoon, it has been decided that ALL White Oak District campuses (high school, middle school, intermediate school, and primary school) will be closed Thursday, December 14th, and Friday, December 15th. This decision was made in the best interest and health considerations for our students, faculty, and staff members,” the White Oak Intermediate School posted to Facebook on Wednesday. Not only did the intermediate school shut their doors, but the entire district decided to close for the rest of the week in order to quell health issues. “There will be NO outside activities of any kind (i.e. Select Volleyball, choir, Boys and Girls Club, etc.). NO ONE will be allowed in the building during these four days,” the Facebook post continues.
The Longview News-Journal writes that White Oak ISD in the Longview area saw many cases of flu-like symptoms and strep running rampant through the schools. Superintendent Mike Gilbert told the news, “We were looking at an escalating problem,” so they decided to shut down all of the schools in order for staff and students to use the time to heal. The attendance had recently plunged from a healthy 96 percent down to 85 percent.
Earlier this year, a district in Tennessee shut down schools for the same reason. When WBIR interviewed Dr. Ryan Redman at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, he confirmed that closing schools do in fact help.
“Usually when you get a lot of it circulating within a group, it’s a good idea to kind of break contact between people so closing schools is an effective strategy. Usually when school does shut down, we do recommend you try to stay away from public places because it doesn’t make any sense for them to close down a school if everybody goes to the mall and spreads the viruses amongst themselves there. So usually you want to stay at home as much as possible and just kind of let everything settle down,” Dr. Redman explained.
