This is scary stuff. Having an identified positive case in my household as of Friday, I am simply mortified at the situation. This was an email sent by superintendent of Arlington ISD. Tarrant county hospitals are at 86% and I think we are just seeing the beginning. Our leaders have failed us.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we near the holiday break, I wanted to share an important alert and recommendations from the Tarrant County Public Health Department regarding the new Public Health Warning for Tarrant County.

Alert and recommendations from Tarrant County Public Health - Tarrant County is under a Public Health Warning due to the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the county. In the last 2 weeks over 15,000 Tarrant County residents have tested positive for COVID-19. Hospital capacity is 86% full and COVID Hospitalization are at 15%. ICU capacity is at 93% full, with 35% due to COVID. The positivity rate is currently 15%, meaning almost 1 out of 6 people getting tested are coming back positive for COVID-19. The situation is dire and we need your help to ensure that our hospitals are not overwhelmed. To assist in reducing the surge, Tarrant County Public Health recommends the following actions for consideration by public school parents: 1.     Consider virtual learning. A reduction in the number of students on campuses can greatly reduce the spread of the virus. If possible, Tarrant County Public Health encourages you to consider the virtual learning environment until the surge has passed. 2.     Keep symptomatic children at home. If children are showing symptoms of the common cold, flu or known COVID-19 symptoms, keep your children home from school and other activities. 3.     Cancel all parties and other social gatherings. Canceling gatherings can help stop the spread of COVID-19. This includes Thanksgiving events with people who do not live in your home. We know these are big requests especially at the time of year when we gather with family and friends to celebrate and give thanks. Our concern at Tarrant County Public Health is that if we don't take these measures now, the number of citizens needing medical care for COVID and many other reasons will not be able to access care at our local hospitals. If we all work together for the next few weeks by staying home, limiting gatherings, social distancing and handwashing, we should see improvement. Thank you for your consideration. -Vinny Taneja, Director, Tarrant County Public Health

If you would like your child to return to virtual instruction, you can change your instructional model by going to the homepage of your child's campus and filling out the "Instructional Change Request Form" just below the top image. Your child will remain with their current teacher/s and fellow students in the virtual environment. I also want to make you aware that even though our campuses are closed, we are still keeping track of COVID-19 cases in the district during the week. The safety and security of our students and staff has been, and will always be, our priority. If your student tests positive for COVID-19 during the break, we still want to know. We have set up a link for you to fill out if there is a case involving one of our students. Please use the form and attach it to an email and send to your campus principal. Those addresses can be found on your campus home page. Please take the time to do that so we can all remain safe. 

This won't likely be a typical Thanksgiving break for any of us. But despite that, I want you to know that I am truly grateful to you. You have demonstrated strength, perseverance and grit as we've navigated these choppy waters. I truly appreciate your kindness, prayers and patience and I wish you a wonderful celebration with your family.

Sincerely, Dr. Marcelo Cavazos Superintendent