2 Lakeville elementary schools close for 2 weeks due to COVID-19 cases - KSTP

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Christina Huddleston Elementary is in week two of its two-week quarantine closure.

"First it was Christina Huddleston, and in that building, we had four cases, which doesn’t sound like very much to the public," Executive Director of Student Services and Special Education Renae Ouillette said. "But those four cases lead to four classrooms being out, and also a bus of students."

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Ouillette says the school also had 20 students out sick with cold and flu-like symptoms, which helped with the decision to close Huddleston Elementary for two weeks.

"It's not necessarily from the cases, it’s what happens to the system from those cases and where those cases come from," she said.

At Orchard Lake, Ouillette says there were two confirmed cases, quarantining 50 students and 9 employees.

"I think it just demonstrates how only a few cases can impact a school very significantly," she said.

The district's middle and high school students are slated to return over the next month, but spring break also brings added concern.

"We are very concerned that we will see an uptick in cases," Ouillette said.

Yolanda Lewis has four children in the district, including a 15-year-old son with special needs.

"While I would love to see my kids go back to school in person, I think about the teachers," she said.

"We just have to wait," she added. "We really just have to wait."

Other parents disagree. In online discussions on the district's Facebook page, some parents said, despite possible COVID-19 cases, "Kids need to get back to school."