Ursuline Academy of Dallas and St. Rita Catholic School both canceled classes Wednesday amid ongoing concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
St. Rita Catholic School has confirmed to NBCDFW they will remain closed through spring break for a "deep cleaning."
Officials with Ursuline Academy announced Wednesday that "e-Day protocols" will be enacted on Thursday and Friday, March 12 & 13. The announcement from the school continues " Ms. Smith will follow up with communications to parents and students on how this will work."
Ursuline Academy says it will implement a thorough cleaning of the school following CDC guidelines.
“The decisions we made this morning to shut the school down and the parish is to take a pause and just do a lot of deep spring cleaning," St. Rita's head administrator, Fr. Joshua Whitfield said.
Whitfield says the parish will remained closed until mass this Sunday, adding that they have been taking direction from Dallas County Health and Human Services and the CDC.
“I’m really proud of St. Rita for acting calmly and sanely," he said. "There’s been no panic, we are just trying to do the smart thing."
Parents who spoke with NBCDFW say they support the school's decision to close and clean.
“Everybody(other parents) in my community seems to have pretty good spirits about it(COVID-19) and a lot seem to think it’s overblown but at the same time a lot of them are taking precautions as well," St. Rita parent Mattson Wade said.
Ursuline Academy said they were also informed early Wednesday morning that a "member of our extended school community" is presumed positive for COVID-19.
"Out of an abundance of caution, Ursuline Academy will be closed today and the school will undergo a thorough cleaning," the school said on Facebook.
Alvarado ISD is also closed Wednesday due to a possible exposure to COVID-19.
