Two school districts in Spokane area break daily record for COVID-19 cases

Two of Spokane County’s largest school districts reported record-breaking COVID-19 numbers Tuesday.

The dashboard at the Mead School District showed 787 positive tests in the previous 10 days. Of those, 85 are teachers, including 47 at the high school level.

The previous record at Mead, which has an enrollment of about 10,800, was 643 cases on Friday.

Central Valley also set a record on Tuesday, reporting 838 cases in the previous 10 days. That broke the old record of 740, also set on Friday.

The district’s three high schools accounted for 333 of the cases. Central Valley’s dashboard does not break down cases by staff and students.

The county’s fourth-largest district, Cheney, reported a slight decline in positive tests – from 186 on Friday to 177 on Tuesday.

However, neighboring Medical Lake was slightly higher, from 75 cases on Friday to 81 on Tuesday.

Coeur d’Alene Schools is also trending upward. Last week, the district reported 278 new cases. So far this week it has 146, with 473 students and 92 staff members out of buildings because of a positive test or quarantine.

The region’s largest district, Spokane Public Schools, was closed Tuesday.

COVID-19 metrics in Spokane County’s largest school district hit record numbers Friday, with 539 people with confirmed cases and 1,158 in quarantine.

Meanwhile, the Reardan-Edwall School District, which straddles the Spokane County-Lincoln County line, is going remote this week because of COVID-related staffing shortages.

However, the district said athletics will continue while testing supplies and coaches are available.

Coeur d’Alene, Freeman and Medical Lake have warned families that they also could shift to remote learning should staff shortages worsen.