LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is on its way to start some in-person learning at the end of October, and staff members and students are catching the COVID-19 coronavirus across the district's community.
Four schools reported Tuesday that staff members had contracted COVID-19 are Potomac Falls High School, Harper Park Middle School, Eagle Ridge Middle School and Stone Bridge High School.
On Wednesday, one more student in the LCPS district and another staff member tested positive.
Recently, four Loudoun County student-athletes who play soccer within the school district also tested positive for coronavirus.
"Please know that as Superintendent of the Loudoun County Public Schools, I care deeply about the health and well-being of students, staff members, their families, and the broader Loudoun community," Superindentent Eric Williams said in a statement to the LCPS community.
Parents and students gave the Loudoun County School Board an earful Tuesday night. The overwhelming majority of speakers asked for students to head back to class full-time.
Meanwhile, the president of the Loudoun County Education Association asked the school board only to send students back when proper protocols are in place.
Right now, Loudoun County is only planning for a slow, phased return to the classroom. Last month, the board approved part-time in-person learning for students in kindergarten through second grade starting October 27, with older grades returning later.
The LCPS School Board announced in late September that it would start some in-person learning, but older students may have to wait even longer into the fall semester before that's even a possibility, if at all before the holiday break.
The board pushed for a vote that moved all students back to the classroom with the hybrid plan by December 1. That vote ultimately failed Tuesday night.
That means on November 10 the board will decide whether third through fifth graders can return to the classroom in December. The earliest middle and high schoolers would head back is late January.
WUSA9 will continue to follow developments from LCPS and its in-person hybrid learning model amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
To see the Loudoun County School Board meeting, click here.
