Nampa School District Closes 5 Schools Due to Covid

It appears to be 2020 all over again. Treasure Valley Schools and other service-based businesses are struggling to keep their doors open. Last week, the Idaho Statesman reported that the Caldwell School District would close last week for two days. The Nampa School District has announced that they will have to temporarily close five schools due to too many teachers and students sick with the Omicron.  

The District released a statement announcing their decision in a Facebook post.  KIVI first reported the story. Nampa schools say that today was their most challenging day to fill classrooms. From their Facebook Post,   'NSD had over 170 staff out and 72 unfilled classrooms today, Jan. 18. This is the highest rate of illness we have seen so far this year.'

It looks like the winter semester will be a tough one for administrators who had hoped for a return to normal. The Omicron variant has been more contagious than the previous strains of Covid. Parent groups have been very vocal about their resistance to remote learning.  

Nampa hopes that the five schools will return to a regular operating schedule following Monday.  The Idaho Statesman showed how the other school districts are faring against Covid. 'The Boise School District, which has a mask mandate, reported 110 positive cases over the first three days of this week, as of Wednesday evening. The West Ada School District, which has a mask-optional policy, reported 228 total active cases over the past five days, from Jan. 8 to Jan. 12. From Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, the school district had more than 500 positive cases.'

The five schools that will be closed are the following:

New Horizons Dual Language School

Gateways

Nampa Early Childhood Learning Center

East Valley Middle School

Centennial Elementary School