A new dashboard gives insight into COVID-19 cases in Midlands school district
As local schools move toward reopening from a coronavirus-induced shutdown, parents in one Midlands school district have a new way to track the spread of COVID-19 in the classroom.
Lexington 1 has posted a new dashboard on the school district website to track coronavirus cases among students and teachers in the district’s schools. The dashboard offers more detailed information than a similar tracker updated by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The Lexington 1 dashboard cites specific numbers of cases among students and staff at each of the district’s 12 schools. DHEC’s numbers in each category only cite “less than five” for each school.
District staff said they are still troubleshooting some of the technical aspects of the dashboard, and displays could change before the next scheduled update on Monday.
On Friday, the dashboard recorded the first school to exceed that limit, reporting that eight students have tested positive for COVID-19 at Lexington High School. Beechwood Middle School reported two positive cases, and five others — Centerville Elementary, Forts Pond Elementary, Gilbert High, Gilbert Middle and Lake Murray Elementary — reported one student positive test each.
But the district tracker goes further by identifying “excluded” cases — students who have displayed COVID-like symptoms or who have come into contact with someone who tested positive, and are staying home from school.
Lexington Elementary had 35 excluded students on Friday, and 34 were excluded from Lexington High. Gilbert High had 13, Centerville Elementary 12, Gilbert Middle 11 and Beechwood Middle 10.
Similar numbers are reported for staff members, whether teachers or other employees at a school. Four have tested positive at Lexington Elementary, and another 14 staff at the school are currently excluded. Centerville had three positive staff cases and four exclusions, while Lexington High had the only other COVID-positive staff members, with another five excluded there.
Forts Pond Elementary had five excluded staff members on Friday, but none who have tested positive.
In total, 26 Lexington 1 students have tested positive, but 326 have been placed in the excluded category. Fourteen staff members have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 63 staff are excluded from school.
Lexington 1’s dashboard will be updated every weekday at noon. By Oct. 5, the district plans to begin a phased reentry plan that would see students slowly resume a four-day-a-week schedule, starting with students in kindergarten through second grade and including all elementary school students within two weeks.
The district notes that reporting cases does not indicate an infected individual went to school prior to the diagnosis, or that the virus was contracted while the person was in school.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
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