Two more schools close in one MS Coast district, leaving 2 of 6 open during COVID surge
COVID outbreaks have closed two more schools in the Hancock County School District, an official announced in a callout Sunday morning.
Hancock Middle School and East Hancock Elementary, both in Kiln, will be closed for 14 days, public relations administrator Joan Seals said in the recorded message. The district also sent a news release to the media.
The district closed two of its other schools earlier last week: South Hancock Elementary in the Lakeshore community and Hancock High School in Kiln. Stone High School and Agricola Elementary in George County have also closed recently because of COVID outbreaks.
Four of six schools in the district are now closed as the delta variant causes a new coronavirus surge in Mississippi and across the U.S. New Superintendent Theresa Merwin enacted a mandatory mask policy the day before students went back to school on Aug. 3. The schools will switch to distance learning during the closures, Seals said in the call to parents.
“Teachers and staff will reporting to work each day and working diligently to make sure learning continues,” Seals said, adding that the district will be releasing distance learning information soon.
Two elementary schools, West Hancock Elementary and Hancock North Central Elementary, remain open.
Grab-and-go lunch meals are available via drive-thru pickup for students at all closed schools and for quarantined students at the two schools that are open. Parents can pickup the lunches at South Hancock or East Hancock elementary schools.
This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 9:56 AM.
