Comal ISD extends MLK Day holiday as county sees record-high COVID-19 cases

Day also given for students to reset and ‘re-calibrate,’ superintendent says

Comal ISD bus driver placed on leave amid investigation into alleged student segregation

The Comal Independent School District will extend its Martin Luther King Jr. holiday another day in an effort to slow down COVID-19 infections and give students time to “reset” and “re-calibrate.”

In a letter, Superintendent Andrew Kim said students now have Tuesday as a federal holiday. However, athletics, fine arts and other extracurricular events and practices will still take place.

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Because Tuesday will be a holiday, students will not have a make-up day. Staff will still need to report to work, the district said.

“The purpose of this day off for students is to give our teachers and staff an extra day to reset and re-calibrate as we have done in the past,” Kim said in the letter. “In addition, extending the already planned three-day weekend will provide an opportunity for our COVID cases to slow down and allow us to conduct thorough campus cleaning and disinfection.”

The extra day off was given as Comal County recorded the highest number of new cases reported in one day since the beginning of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, Comal County reported a new record daily high of 379 new COVID cases and one death.

On Thursday, 315 new cases were reported and another death. The total number of deceased is now 488.

There are 53 people in Comal County hospitals with COVID-19. Approximately 89% of these patients are unvaccinated, the county said.

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About the Author:

Rebecca Salinas is an award-winning digital journalist who joined KSAT in 2019. She reports on a variety of topics for KSAT 12 News.