When the honor system fails: COVID-19 still raging at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene

As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes at most schools, it has made a major comeback at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene.

According to Principal Deanne Clifford, at least 23 Lake City students have tested positive since April 26, with all but three the result of in-school transmission. The school has an enrollment of about 1,650.

As a result, Lake City students will be required to wear masks for the last three weeks of the school year, which ends June 11.

“The COVID-19 outbreak among Lake City students has worsened over the past week, and our recent mitigation strategies have not been effective to slow the spread of the virus in school,” Clifford said in a letter sent Thursday night to students and families.

“We also have two Lake City staff members who recently contracted the virus, and we believe three bus drivers currently out sick with COVID were exposed while driving Lake City students,” Clifford said.

The outbreak also imperils plans for a graduation ceremony, Clifford said.

According to Clifford and Coeur d’Alene school officials, at least two Lake City students attended classes without masks even after having tested positive for COVID.

After noting this “disregard for the health and safety of others,” Clifford said that staff reported seeing “many students ignore our current requirement to wear a mask at school unless they have been vaccinated and it has been at least two weeks since their second dose.”

On April 19, the Coeur d’Alene board of trustees voted 3-2 to rescind the district requirement and instead “strongly recommend” masks and face coverings.

It was understood that students who had tested positive or been exposed would wear masks.

“We were doing it on the honor system, and it didn’t work very well at Lake City,” said Scott Maben, the district’s director of communications.

In her letter, Clifford outlined other possible steps to mitigate the outbreak, including a return to blended learning, fully remote learning and cancellation of remaining activities, including the LCHS graduation ceremony scheduled for June 12.

“We need people to be a lot more careful in these last few weeks,” Maben said.

COVID-19 has spiked in several local school districts. As of Friday, Central Valley reported 70 new cases in the previous two days, while Mead had 23 in the past 10 days.

In the Riverside School District north of Spokane, the district dashboard showed 14 new cases resulting in 82 quarantines out of an enrollment of about 1,500.

Deer Park reported nine new cases and 63 quarantines in the past 14 days.