Students At 15 Loudoun Elementary Schools Test Positive

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — The new wave of the coronavirus pandemic spreading across Virginia and the rest of the country is occurring as school divisions that have returned to in-person learning are reporting positive cases among their students on almost a daily basis.

In Loudoun County, dozens of positive coronavirus cases in students have already been reported as third through fifth graders in the county's public school system are scheduled to start a hybrid learning program on Dec. 1. The hybrid program includes two days of in-person instruction. Students and their parents were given the option to continue 100-percent distance learning.

Students in kindergarten through second grade as well as English language learners in Loudoun County began hybrid learning on Oct. 27. There are currently 6,890 K-2 students taking part in hybrid learning, according to LCPS.

At the elementary school level, 15 students have tested positive for the coronavirus since the hybrid learning program began, according to Loudoun County Public School COVID-19 data. No elementary school has reported more than one positive case among its students.

The most recent positive case of a student at a Loudoun elementary school was at Arcola Elementary where the student was last at the school on Nov. 19. The student is self-isolating, according to the school system.

Among all students in the county, there have been 46 reported positive cases since Sept. 6. Forty-two students are now quarantining. Fourteen LCPS students currently have active positive cases, according to the school system's COVID-19 Case Data webpage.

Over the past month, 19 students at Loudoun's high schools, including 11 student athletes, have tested positive for the coronavirus. LCPS has not reported any positive cases among students at the county's middle schools over the past month.

Among LCPS staff members, there have been 99 positive cases reported since Sept. 6 and 126 staff members are currently quarantining. There are 16 active coronavirus cases among staff members.

During the week of Nov. 16-20, LCPS reported an "increasing" trend in positive coronavirus cases. The trend is determined by the number of new positive cases among staff and students who participate in-person at an LCPS school or worksite compared to the number from the prior week.

As of Wednesday, the Loudoun County Health Department reported 9,717 positive cases among all county residents since the start of the coronavirus. Among the 2,718 new cases reported in Virginia on Wednesday, 205 of them were in Loudoun. The county has seen a total of 142 deaths from COVID-19 since March, with three new deaths reported Wednesday.

Since K-2 students were allowed to return to the classroom, the seven-day case average in Loudoun County has more than doubled, increasing from 31.1 on Oct. 27 to 79.7 on Nov. 24.

Parents and students were recently asked by LCPS to show their preference for learning in the second semester, which starts Jan. 21, 2021. In the Second Semester Return to School Choice survey, which ended Nov. 20, 59 percent chose 100-percent distance learning and 31 percent stated a preference for the hybrid program, which includes two days of in-person instruction.

During the summer, as the school division was preparing for the fall semester, more parents were in favor of the hybrid program for their children. At the time, half of the school system's 81,000 students selected hybrid learning, LoudounNow reported.

Along with Arcola Elementary School, the elementary schools in Loudoun County where a student has tested positive for the coronavirus since Oct. 27 are Meadowland, Frances Hazel Reid, Madison's Trust, Steuart W. Weller, Waxpool, Hutchison Farm, Sterling, Evergreen Mill, Sanders Corner, Round Hill, Emerick, Ashburn, Countryside and Guilford.