2 Teachers Die Of COVID-19, Shutting Down School District

A Texas school district closed all of its schools from Tuesday until after Labor Day after two teachers died of COVID-19, multiple sources confirmed.

The Connally Independent School District (CISD) located north of Waco, Texas, announced Tuesday that all campuses will remain closed until Sept. 6 after two teachers died of COVID-19 within the last week, KCEN-TV reported.

Natalia Chansler, a 41-year old sixth-grade social studies teacher at Connally Junior High School, died of COVID-19 on Monday, according to KCEN-TV. David “Andy” McCormick, 59, passed away Aug. 24 from the virus.

Chansler was on campus on Aug. 25 and was entering her second year at Connally ISD, according to KCEN-TV.

“Our hope is that the closure and holiday break will provide those who are positive with the virus or exposed to others with the virus, the time to isolate and recover,” Superintendent Wesley Holt wrote in an email to KCEN-TV.

“This closure will also allow time for deep cleaning and sanitizing of all CISD facilities,” Holt said.

The CISD did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Connally Junior High School saw 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases since classes began on Aug. 18, Assistant Superintendent Jill Bottelberghe told the Associated Press. The school did confirm additional cases this week, but it remains unclear if they trace back directly to Chansler.

“We have not found any correlation,” relating to the two deaths, Bottleberghe told the AP.

“They were at two different grade levels even though they worked under the same content area, but we have recognized that there has been an increase in spread as far as throughout our student body at those two grade levels,” Bottleberghe said.

The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in Texas was 13,727 as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.