Houston ISD adjusts COVID-19 closure criteria

Houston ISD has announced a change to its COVID-19 policy that adjusts the protocol for schools closing due to positivity rates.

Under the new changes announced Oct. 26, the district will keep schools open for in-person learning.

If the district had continued to operate under the old rules, it would have been required to return to virtual learning as positivity rates rise in Houston.

When the district laid out its reopening plans at the beginning of the year, officials stated that instruction would go virtual if Harris County's COVID-19 positivity rate were to average higher than 7% over a 14-day period.

As of Oct. 26, the Harris County COVID-19 dashboard shows the average positivity rate for the past 14 days is at 7.4%, meaning that under the old rules, the schools would have gone virtual.

Instead, the district has said that it is working closely with multiple health departments to gather as much data as possible in order to help guide future decisions about student and staff safety.

This article was originally published by Community Impact Newspaper media partner ABC13.