Which Coast districts have seen the most COVID-19 cases among students? What we found.
COVID-19 cases keep climbing in Mississippi Coast schools.
In most Coast districts that reported last week, 4% or more of all students had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Aug. 20, according to a Sun Herald analysis of the most recent data release from the state health department on Tuesday.
The Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District reported that 135 students had tested positive for COVID-19 since the school year began, or just over 8% of its enrollment last school year of 1,676.
The Gulfport School District, which opened about two weeks ahead of most Coast districts, reported that between 446 and 450 students in the district had tested positive, or about 7% out of total enrollment of 6,367 last school year.
The district’s positive cases for the week of Aug. 16-Aug. 20 were far lower, comprising between 0.9% and 1.27% of all students.
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said it’s difficult to discern how many cases among kids result from in-school transmission rather than community spread, which is high across Mississippi.
“But certainly there is a possibility that we are seeing transmission within the schools,” he said.
“I think we’re still gonna be in rough patch for the next few weeks for schools,” he continued.
The Sun Herald used the state data to determine the total number of students positive for COVID-19 last week and since the start of the school year for each district. District enrollment as reported by the Mississippi Department of Education was used to determine the overall percentage of students who have tested positive.
Because the health department reports case numbers of less than six as “1-5,” our analysis identified lower- and upper-end possibilities for the total number of cases among students and staff.
The data is not a perfect picture of the number of COVID-19 cases in schools: Schools self-report, and state health officials have said compliance and accuracy can be spotty.
“We do have some trouble with some schools not wanting to behave,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said earlier this month. “There are one or two schools on the Coast which are notoriously difficult players. Y’all probably know who they are. I’m not going to call any names.”
The Hancock County School District did not report data for any schools last week.
District policies around quarantine also vary widely: While Harrison County, where masks are optional, has quarantined thousands of students at home, Jackson County has taken the opposite approach and kept exposed students at school. So the percentage of students in quarantine likely reflects those policy differences at least as much as it indicates differences in the number of students exposed to COVID-19.
Here’s what we found for each school district in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.
Bay St. Louis-Waveland
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 60 (3.58%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 3-15
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 135 (8.05%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 24-28
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 165 (9.84%)
Biloxi
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 92-104 (1.55%-1.75%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 13-37
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 164-168 (2.76%-2.82%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 26-46
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 118 (1.98%)
Gulfport
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 57-81 (0.9%-1.27%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 6-30
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 446-450 (7%-7.07%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 51-67
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 436 (6.85%)
Hancock County
Hancock County did not report any data to the state health department for the week of Aug. 16-20. The Sun Herald reached out to the district to ask why cases were not reported.
Harrison County
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 354-374 (2.59%-2.74%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 49-109
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 597-609 (4.37%-4.46%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 198-238
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 2,093 (15.32%)
Jackson County
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 292 (3.33%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 29-69
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 387 (4.4%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 75-103
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 0 (0%)
Long Beach
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 29-37 (1.01%-1.29%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 4-20
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 86-90 (2.99%-3.13%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 10-26
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 152 (5.29%)
Moss Point
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 19-31 (1.26%-2.05%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 3-15
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 57-61 (3.77%-4.03%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 3-15
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 197 (13.02%)
Ocean Springs
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 172 (3%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 14-30
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 370 (6.45%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 36-48
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 76 (1.32%)
Pascagoula-Gautier
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 64-112 (0.98%-1.72%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 9-45
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 210-230 (3.23%-3.53%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 35-83
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 1,486 (22.83%). Note: The district reported all students at Pascagoula High School, which switched to virtual learning until Sept. 2 due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, as in quarantine.
Pass Christian
- Student cases week of Aug. 16-20: 47-51 (2.36%-2.56%)
- Staff cases week of Aug. 16-20: 3-15
- Total student cases since beginning of school year: 86 (4.32%)
- Total staff cases since beginning of school year: 11-23
- Students in quarantine week of Aug. 16-20: 319 (16.02%)
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
