The town of Iraan (pronounced Ira-Ann), in Texas, is shut down. According to The Texas Tribune, the oilfield town, with a population just north of 1,200-1,300 people, had its local school shut down last week after about 25% of the staff and 16% of the student body tested positive or were in quarantine for COVID-19. The West Texas town only has a 14-bed hospital with zero critical care facilities. The Tribune reports that the closest hospitals with the equipment and services needed to handle serious COVID-19 cases are “all 80 miles or more away.” The Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District made this announcement last Monday after only five days of classes.
Iraan’s schools are not fighting Republican death-eater Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-mask mandates. The Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District joins three other school districts that both allowed mask-wearing to be “optional” and are now closed due to high COVID-19 numbers. A statement from the district’s superintendent, Dr. Tracy Canter, conveyed to parents that the school would be closed until at least Aug. 30. CNN reports that this may be an optimistic timetable as Iraan saw 119 people tested in the first two weeks of August, and 50 of those tests came back positive. The town’s city council has already voted to close down the city building and “postpone late fees on water and gas utilities and stop utility disconnections for at least a month.”
The football season has been postponed for now.
Iraan General Hospital CEO Jason Rybolt told CNN he was “very concerned for the community," and whether the small town of Iraan will be receiving the medical treatment it needs. The hospital’s chief nursing officer, Connie Miles, told CBS7: “We started seeing some patients come into our facility that were needing more care than what they could get at home last week, and we have transferred some patients out to larger facilities. Our biggest issue right now is finding facilities that will take these patients because every facility in the state is full.” Iraan, like the other districts that have closed down, is an area where fewer than a third of residents are fully vaccinated.
Gov. Greg Abbott plays cowboy while his constituents suffer
The Tribune expanded on how prevalent the problem was in the Iraan school district as about 27% of “instructional staffers” were already out due to COVID-19 before the awful numbers this past week were announced. These staffers—as well as other facility staff—pose a much larger risk of spreading the virus than in many larger areas simply because many of them have numerous responsibilities beyond instruction. “During the day, some teach and then coach and then drive the bus.” According to the Tribune, the Morgan Mill Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas, closed after “half the staff was out sick.”
A depressing side note to an already depressing story: According to Morgan Mill Superintendent Wendy Sanders, many of the “staff out sick” did not want to be tested for COVID-19. “It was their personal choice to not get tested. I don’t believe in taking away personal freedom of choice and enforcing testing.” Fine. But then, when can they be allowed back to the school? The Tribune did not ask that follow-up question, so it’s hard to say whether or not simply saying you’re sick means you just sit out for 10 days until maybe you feel better. So you don’t test before coming back to school to face a population of children, many of whom cannot be given a vaccine at this time, even if they wanted one?
Iraan’s school system joins others throughout the Lone Star state in closing down as COVID-19 surges across the country. According to the Associated Press, at least 21 other Texas school districts have defied coronavirus-positive Abbott’s terrifying overreach. These rural schools will also have to deal with state-mandated instructional time being lost due to closures. There will be some remote conferencing mixed in with extended days, and probably nixing some minimum days that were supposed to be allotted to teachers for instructional planning.
Iraan General Hospital reports that it has “a sufficient supply of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine available. Please call our Rural Health Clinic @ 432-639-2580 or Connie Miles, RN, CNO @ 432-639-3514 with eligibility questions or to schedule your appointment today!”
Iraan’s schools are not fighting Republican death-eater Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-mask mandates. The Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District joins three other school districts that both allowed mask-wearing to be “optional” and are now closed due to high COVID-19 numbers. A statement from the district’s superintendent, Dr. Tracy Canter, conveyed to parents that the school would be closed until at least Aug. 30. CNN reports that this may be an optimistic timetable as Iraan saw 119 people tested in the first two weeks of August, and 50 of those tests came back positive. The town’s city council has already voted to close down the city building and “postpone late fees on water and gas utilities and stop utility disconnections for at least a month.”
The football season has been postponed for now.
Iraan General Hospital CEO Jason Rybolt told CNN he was “very concerned for the community," and whether the small town of Iraan will be receiving the medical treatment it needs. The hospital’s chief nursing officer, Connie Miles, told CBS7: “We started seeing some patients come into our facility that were needing more care than what they could get at home last week, and we have transferred some patients out to larger facilities. Our biggest issue right now is finding facilities that will take these patients because every facility in the state is full.” Iraan, like the other districts that have closed down, is an area where fewer than a third of residents are fully vaccinated.
Gov. Greg Abbott plays cowboy while his constituents suffer
The Tribune expanded on how prevalent the problem was in the Iraan school district as about 27% of “instructional staffers” were already out due to COVID-19 before the awful numbers this past week were announced. These staffers—as well as other facility staff—pose a much larger risk of spreading the virus than in many larger areas simply because many of them have numerous responsibilities beyond instruction. “During the day, some teach and then coach and then drive the bus.” According to the Tribune, the Morgan Mill Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas, closed after “half the staff was out sick.”
A depressing side note to an already depressing story: According to Morgan Mill Superintendent Wendy Sanders, many of the “staff out sick” did not want to be tested for COVID-19. “It was their personal choice to not get tested. I don’t believe in taking away personal freedom of choice and enforcing testing.” Fine. But then, when can they be allowed back to the school? The Tribune did not ask that follow-up question, so it’s hard to say whether or not simply saying you’re sick means you just sit out for 10 days until maybe you feel better. So you don’t test before coming back to school to face a population of children, many of whom cannot be given a vaccine at this time, even if they wanted one?
Iraan’s school system joins others throughout the Lone Star state in closing down as COVID-19 surges across the country. According to the Associated Press, at least 21 other Texas school districts have defied coronavirus-positive Abbott’s terrifying overreach. These rural schools will also have to deal with state-mandated instructional time being lost due to closures. There will be some remote conferencing mixed in with extended days, and probably nixing some minimum days that were supposed to be allotted to teachers for instructional planning.
Iraan General Hospital reports that it has “a sufficient supply of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine available. Please call our Rural Health Clinic @ 432-639-2580 or Connie Miles, RN, CNO @ 432-639-3514 with eligibility questions or to schedule your appointment today!”