Just days after the Beaumont ISD school board declined to take action on a mask mandate, it has announced an emergency meeting to discuss the topic.
Shortly before 9 a.m. today, the district sent out a notice of emergency meeting to take place at noon.
The only item on the agenda is to “Consider COVID-19 mitigation resolution including consideration of face coverings.”
The agenda continues by saying the impact of the Delta variant is an “unforeseen and unavoidable emergency of public necessity, due to the highly transmittable nature of the variant among adults and children and escalating number of positive cases among students and staff at Beaumont ISD threatening public health.”
On Sunday evening, the principal of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School announced via Facebook that it will be closed through the week.
“As you all know, COVID-19 is still spreading rapidly within our community,” the letter said. “This decision is in the best interest of the students, families and staff of King Middle School.”
The agenda also notes that positive cases of COVID-19 among Beaumont ISD staff on Sunday caused the closure of a campus “due to inability to effectively operate” and COVID-19 hospitalizations in Jefferson County on Saturday reached an “all-time high.”
On Saturday, 240 cases of COVID-19 were reported at Jefferson County hospitals — 64 in the ICU and 176 in general beds, according to data from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. On Sunday, that number grew even higher with 244 cases in hospitals across the county — 65 in ICU and 179 in general beds.
As of Sunday, nearly 90% of the 73 ICU beds in use across the county were taken up by COVID patients, the data show.
The Beaumont ISD COVID case tracker on Monday morning reported 83 active cases — 44 students, 19 teachers and 20 staff members. However, the tracker still does not list any positive cases in staff or teachers at King Middle School and only one student.
This report will be updated.