ARLINGTON, Tennessee — Closed before it was opened.
A Memphis area elementary school has delayed the start of the 2021-2022 school year due to COVID-19 cases. Donelson Elementary School made the announcement to parents Sunday afternoon, a day before the school year was set to start.
The statement read, “DES Families, It is with great displeasure we inform you today that due to a significant number of COVID-19 cases among our staff, we must delay the start of school for Donelson Elementary by one week.
Please know that we explored all options to prevent this delay, but just late this afternoon, we received several more confirmations of COVID-19 among our teaching staff that has stifled our ability to open school. We are simply at a point where opening tomorrow would risk further exposure to students and staff. This is certainly not how we had hoped to begin this school year, but we must take this proactive step to protect our employees and children and prevent a more widespread outbreak.
The district will use five stockpile days to delay the opening of Donelson Elementary until Monday, August 16th. During this time, our campus will be closed to all events, including before and after school Y-Care, so our custodial crews can perform a deep clean of the building.
This closure does not affect any other school in ACA.”