MLSD closes Sage Point Elementary to in-class instruction

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District announced late Monday that all students at Sage Point Elementary would start remote learning as of Tuesday, citing the increase in COVID-19 cases and “an increase in absences.”

According to a notice posted at the MLSD and Sage Point Elementary websites, Grant County Health District advised the district to close the school for two weeks.

“At this time, school is scheduled to resume Tuesday, Dec. 1,” the statement read.

In an email to the Columbia Basin Herald, MLSD spokesperson Claren McLaughlin wrote the closure was prompted by rising COVID-19 cases among both students and faculty.

“Due to the number of positive cases confirmed today at Sage Point and the subsequent cohorts requiring cautionary quarantine, the GCHD advised temporary closure at this time,” McLaughlin wrote. Parent-teacher conferences will continue remotely by Zoom and students receiving free meals can pick them up at Sage Point from 11 a.m. to noon, according to the district statement.

In order to avoid future closures, MLSD officials advised parents and students to maintain a physical distance of six feet from “people outside your own household,” to wear a mask in public, to wash hands regularly, and to not attend or host large gatherings.

“We continue to monitor the evolving health crisis caused by the coronavirus,” the statement read.

On Saturday, the MLSD announced that it was sending all students at its three middle schools home for remote learning after reporting that so many faculty and staff were quarantined it made it difficult to keep in-class instruction going.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].