As Fort Worth ISD's mask mandate remains on hold, COVID-19 cases within the district continue to spike.
In updating the COVID numbers during Tuesday's board meeting, Fort Worth ISD Assistant Superintendent Michael Steinert says while there are no student deaths to report, the same cannot be said for district staffers.
"We had a couple other faculty or related faculty this week," said Steinert. "Two additional deceased."
One of them is Richard Zarza, engineering and robotics teacher at Southwest High School.
He passed away Monday from COVID-19 complications. Services for Zarza will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Azle & Lake Worth Funeral Home in Azle.
"Richard was an amazing educator," said Southwest Principal John Engel. "His passion for student success was evident in every part of our engineering program. His legacy will live on through the numerous lives he impacted."
In the first five weeks of the school year, the number of positive cases within the Fort Worth ISD has nearly matched that of last year.
While that can be attributed to the Delta variant infecting children much more than the original strain, Steinert said there are other factors in play.
"There's more student prevalence in the community," Steinert says, "we're hearing right around the country there's more student positives, and we have 100% of our students back in person."
Steinert says keeping kids safe has been challenging this year so far.
"Those that are able to separate their kids more often and stick to cohorts and seating charts certainly can mitigate that better," says Steinert. "Once we get to secondary, it's very, very challenging for those principals. I know they're doing the best they can, but it's hard."
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