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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A metro elementary school has fully shifted to remote learning.

Turner USD 202 and the Wyandotte County Unified Government’s Public Health Department say a concerning COVID-19 cluster pushed them to close Oak Grove Elementary school.  

So far, at least 10 positive COVID cases are connected to the school, and 100 students and staff are now being asked to quarantine. That represents roughly 16% of the school.

The health department believes one mistake might’ve triggered this outbreak.

“I was hoping that everything would be okay with him to be able to go but it didn’t turn out that way,” said Carol Pippin, grandparent and guardian of an Oak Grove Elementary student.

Only a few teachers are coming into the school, isolating in their classrooms, to teach students online like Gage Flynn who are learning from home.

“It makes me nervous that it’s going to affect my health and my grandma’s health but I’m scared I’m going to bring it home to hear and my other family,” said Flynn, an Oak Grove Elementary fifth grader.

Gage and his grandma first learned of a COVID-19 case at the school in KCK’s Turner School District on Monday. The school has been open with hybrid learning since Sept. 8. 

But with 10 positive cases and more than 100 quarantined for exposure, school is now all virtual.

“There was a person identified that would’ve had contact with a lot of different students within different cohorts and that’s kind of what led to the decision,” said Elizabeth Groenweghe, Unified Government Public Health Department chief epidemiologist.  

The health department recommends schools keep students in small groups throughout the day to limit exposure, but they believe those guidelines were not strictly followed at Oak Grove.

“There was some mingling of the cohorts where some people that were infected exposed multiple cohorts and that’s kind of where we think things kind of got off track,” Groenweghe said.

The district said it’s undergoing a deep clean and hopes students can return Oct. 20. Carol Pippin and her grandson are thankful they’re feeling fine and have not been notified of a direct exposure.  

The health department reminds anyone notified by the district or school nurse of an exposure risk to stay home and watch for symptoms over the next two weeks.

“We know there is transmission ongoing in connection to that exposure and people will likely continue to test positive from this exposure in the next few days here. So now is really a critical window where we want to make sure that people that might’ve been exposed at the elementary school do stay home,” Groenweghe said.

The Wyandotte County Unified Government Public Health Department said there have been several other COVID-19 cases within the Turner School District. 

A testing event is planned at Oak Grove Elementary Monday morning, 8-10 a.m. All Turner staff, parents and students can stop by to get a rapid COVID-19 test.