Wichita schools release COVID-19 list showing cases at each school
Wichita Public Schools released a list breaking down COVID-19 cases by date and school on Friday, one week after The Eagle filed a request under the Kansas Open Records Act.
The list was published online at usd259.org/Page/18740. It offers the first detailed breakdown of cases appearing at each school. Prior to the breakdown, USD 259 had released weekly data for six weeks about how many staff tested positive and at what type of school: elementary, middle, high, kindergarten through eighth, special school or a non-attendance center. The same information for students was released a few weeks after staff information was first reported.
The data shows USD 259 had roughly 25 staff test positive before the school district started to report cases on Aug. 20 — its first weekly report that included cases from Aug. 13 to Aug. 19 School didn’t start until Sept. 8.
There have been 21 cases since last Friday to Wednesday, the latest day that shows a positive test. Elementary schools had nine of the cases and continue to be the worst impacted, the records show.
A total of 189 positive cases were reported at the schools since Aug. 1 — 118 staff and 71 students with 34 being in-person and 37 remote.
Additionally, staff quarantines have reached a high of 328. An additional 97 staff have been quarantined since last week’s report, including 45 at the elementary level.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 7:17 PM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of the story had the wrong date that USD 259 first reported COVID-19 cases in a weekly report. Because of the wrong date, the wrong number of staff that tested positive before the first report was also in that version of the story.