District Superintendent Kelly Glass has stated she is concerned McDowell Mountain Elementary School will be labeled an outbreak site by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

During the Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 12, Glass stated 66 children were absent from the elementary school on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Glass described the situation at McDowell Mountain as “concerning” and “significant.”

With the ongoing teacher shortage in Arizona, FHUSD schools have shifted employees around to cover classes and grades outside of what they were initially hired for. There is a possibility that the high school and middle school staff members who assisted at McDowell Mountain in the first two weeks of the spring semester have been exposed to COVID.

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health ultimately makes the decision to label a school an outbreak site, but Glass and the School Board discussed changes to the Safe Return to School Plan at the end of their meeting and how they could proactively help parents by informing them how, when and where they would learn of a school closing. For now, FHUSD still does not have a mask mandate, and they are handling COVID cases just as they did in the Fall semester.

As of January 2022, Jonathan M. Miller, MD, and Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD, who are both primary care pediatricians at Nemours Children’s Health, reviewed guidelines on what to do if a child is sick. Those interested in additional information can visit kidshealth.org/en/parents/coronavirus-child-is-sick.html.