Pearland ISD closes Rustic Oak Elementary School due to COVID-19 issues

Pearland ISD announced on Sept. 1 that Rustic Oak Elementary School, located at 1302 Rustic Lane, Pearland, will be temporarily closed on Sept. 2 and Sept. 3 because of an increase in campus positive COVID-19 cases and other factors.

Students at Rustic Oak Elementary School will not participate in remote learning on either of the days while the campus is closed, according to the district’s website.

“At this time, we plan to reopen Rustic Oak for students on Wednesday, Sept. 8, and will reevaluate on Tuesday, Sept. 7,” PISD said in a statement on its website. “If it is determined we need to extend the campus closure further, we will notify parents on [Sept. 7] as soon as possible.”

Students and staff across the district will be off on Sept. 6 for the Labor Day holiday, and PISD has Sept. 7 designated as a district staff development day, which means no school for students.

Since the 2021-22 school year began, Rustic Oak Elementary School reported 36 confirmed positive cases among students and two among staff, as of Sept. 1, according to its COVID-19 dashboard. The second closest to Rustic Oak with positive cases in children among PISD elementary schools is C.J. Harris Elementary School with 21 as of Sept. 1.

Facilities begin to close when the district classifies a certain school or area at the “red” level, which takes into account community positivity rate, vaccination rates, hospital rates, and local clustering and outbreak data, according to PISD's health and safety protocol page.