The Westwood administration informed students and staff of four more individuals present on the Westwood campus that have tested positive for COVID-19. 

“Due to privacy laws, which prevent us from sharing personal information about students and staff, we will not be releasing the name of the individual or details that may identify them,” Principal Dr. Mario Acosta said in each statement.

The announcements came on Sunday, Sept. 27, Tuesday, Sept. 29, Wednesday, Sept. 30, and Monday, Oct. 5, less than two weeks after the first on-campus COVID-19 positive case. The individuals that were announced to have tested positive on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 were determined to not have come into contact with any other individuals. However, the individual announced to have tested positive on Sept. 30 was determined to have come into contact with 5 students, according to the Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) COVID-19 dashboard. The individual announced to have tested positive on Oct. 5 was determined to have come into contact with an unknown number of students and staff. 

“All students that came into close contact have been directly notified. Those who were in close contact are required to remain off-campus for up to 14 days to ensure they do not have the virus, so that there will not be any further spread,” Dr. Acosta said. “Our custodial teams take great care in cleaning our facilities daily and extra attention was given to disinfecting the area occupied by this individual. Operations at Westwood will continue as usual, and we will keep you apprised of further updates.”

The last update of the RRISD COVID-19 dashboard reports 26 positive cases across the district and 77 cumulative close contacts. While the news has some concerned, RRISD and Westwood are still moving forward with an on-campus learning model with fewer restrictions.

“Given the positive public health trends in both Williamson and Travis counties, beginning October 19, we plan to allow middle and high school students to transition to certain classes, including fine arts, athletics, Career & Technical Education classes, physical education, and some classes grouped by academic programming determined by the campus,” District Superintendent Dr. Steve Flores said in an email on Wednesday. 

To learn more about RRISD COVID-19 procedures, as well as get updates about learning and RRISD’s Re-Imagining education plan, visit https://roundrockisd.org/reimaginingeducation/. To stay updated on COVID-19 case counts in the district, visit https://roundrockisd.org/covid-dashboard/.