Bonneville sticks with in-person school after 5 people test positive for COVID-19

IDAHO FALLS — East Idaho’s largest school district is sticking with in-person teaching and learning as at least three students and two staff members recover from COVID-19.

Bonneville School District Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme announced multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, after the district’s first week of a return to in-person classes.

Scott Woolstenhulme

Those who tested positive include:

  • A third-grader at Bridgewater Elementary School.
  • A third-grader at Ammon Elementary School.
  • An eighth-grader at Rocky Mountain Middle School.
  • A staffer at Bonneville High School.
  • A staffer at Iona Elementary School.

These individuals weren’t at school Thursday or Friday, Woolstenhulme told patrons, so the district reopened “as normal” with various safety precautions in place Tuesday.

District staff contacted families of individuals who were in close contact with those who tested positive, said Woolstenhume, who urged patrons to wash their hands, avoid close contact with those who are sick, practice 6 feet of physical distancing and to wear cloth masks.

Bonneville reopened with a mandatory mask policy in place on Aug. 31. The district enrolls some 13,300 students and encompasses western Bonneville County, including the city of Ammon.

Here is a map and reopening plans of all Idaho schools.

Devin Bodkin

Devin Bodkin

EdNews assistant editor and reporter Devin Bodkin is a former high school English teacher who specializes in stories about charter schools and educating students who live in poverty. He lives and works in East Idaho. Follow Devin on Twitter @dsbodkin. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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