Hundreds of Crown Point students, staff quarantine after COVID exposure

CROWN POINT, Ind. (WLS) -- More than 600 students and staff in the Crown Point Community School District have been placed into quarantine as of last week due to exposure to COVID-19, or more than 6% of all students and staff in the district.

School official said 44 students and three staff members tested positive for the virus during the second week of school. In Crown Point face coverings are required only on school buses, and then only because it's a federal rule. Some parents say it's time for a district-wide mask mandate.

"It's very scary," said one parent, who asked to remain unnamed. "It's very scary because I don't want my kids to get sick with COVID."

That parent has two students in the district, and said two thirds of her younger's child's class are at home. She said the district's mask-optional policy isn't working.

"You're going to run out of staff," the parent said. "You're going to run out of students to teach. They're asking them to quarantine for two weeks."

Some expressed support for a mandate at the school board meeting last week.

"Things have changed in the world with the amount of spread," said David Warne, Crown Point Community School Board president. "And I'm a little bit more in the belief that let's just jump ahead of it and mandate the masks."

The district is required, in mask-optional settings, to quarantine students and staff who were within six feet of a person who tests positive. That rule is mandated by the Indiana governor's executive order.

In a statement the school district said, "We are currently reviewing the governor's newest executive order from today to determine any changes to quarantine policies or procedures. After reviewing that information, our priority will be keeping more students in the classroom."