Waco, TX – As flu cases continue to surge across the country, Central Texas is seeing a notably higher positivity rate compared to the national average. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Texas Health and Human Services, the flu situation in Texas is worsening, prompting several local school districts to close their doors for the remainder of the week.
Six school districts in the region—Mount Calm, West, Gholson, Moody, Rogers, and Hallsburg ISD—have already announced closures in an effort to curb the spread of the flu and other illnesses. The decision to shut down schools was made in response to a sharp decline in student attendance, with some districts reporting record numbers of absences.
Gholson ISD Superintendent Heather McCartney explained that the district’s decision to close came after student attendance dipped to around 76% and nearly a third of the staff either fell ill or began showing symptoms. “For a small school like us, it’s pretty significant,” McCartney said. The district, which typically has a smaller student body, has been particularly hard-hit by the flu.
Even larger districts are not immune to the effects of the outbreak. West ISD Superintendent David Truitt reported a dramatic rise in student absences, with the number of students absent jumping from 141 to 218 in just two days. Additionally, 36 staff members were absent due to illness. “It’s been a rapid change,” Truitt said, noting that the flu has spread quickly through the district.
The situation has prompted districts to take extra precautions to prevent further spread. According to Waco ISD Health Services Director Rhiannon Settles, while the district has not yet had to cancel school, flu numbers are higher than usual. “It does seem like our flu numbers are a little higher than normal, but that’s a trend that we’re seeing across the state and across the country,” Settles said.
In response to the rising number of cases, Waco ISD’s maintenance director, Alex Villanueva, explained that the district is closely monitoring illnesses in the schools. “If it reaches a certain percentage of any type of disease, then we go into the campus and do a deep cleaning in those classrooms that are affected,” Villanueva said. The district is committed to disinfecting affected areas to reduce the risk of an outbreak.
For districts that have closed, officials have assured the public that facilities will undergo a thorough cleaning, including disinfecting desks, chairs, and any other surfaces students frequently touch. “It’s just deep cleaning of everything,” McCartney said. This cleaning process is intended to help ensure that students and staff can return to school as safely as possible.
In addition to the cleaning efforts, health officials are urging parents to keep their children at home if they are sick. “We ask parents to keep their students home if they are sick—if they’re running a temperature over 100 degrees, if they’re having any vomiting or diarrhea, or if they’re just not acting like themselves,” Settles advised.
The temporary school closures are designed to give students and staff the time needed to recover, with the goal of resuming classes healthy and ready to learn by the following week. Despite the challenges, McCartney remains hopeful that the community will come together to overcome the flu outbreak. “It’s just a hard time we’ll have to get through and get on the other side of it,” she said.
As flu cases continue to rise, local school districts are adjusting their strategies to protect both the health of their students and staff and the continuity of education in the region.
