School teams quarantine, now returning

The majority of student-athletes on two sports teams at Choudrant High School went into quarantine last week due to potential exposure to COVID-19.

The teams had been working out in close enough proximity that when one student tested positive for the respiratory virus, almost everyone was sent home as a precaution, officials said.

“We happened to be in enclosed spaces at that point, so we erred on the side of caution and followed protocol,” Principal Tony Antley said.

No one who was sent home for exposure tested positive once the window for testing opened this weekend, Antley said, so many of the athletes returned to school Tuesday, and practices will resume. He said the one positive case is not a serious one, and the student will return later this week.

Choudrant High as a whole saw a 17-person drop in the number of students who were absent on Tuesday due to a positive case or exposure to COVID-19 when compared to Friday’s figures.

That tracks with the Lincoln Parish School District across the board, which fell from 197 students out for COVID reasons on Friday to 142 on Tuesday, a decrease of 55. Nearly every school had students return from such absences on Tuesday.

That’s the first time the district’s figures have trended down instead of up since the school year began on Aug. 19.

The number of students out with a positive case also dropped across the district by 19, down to 43 on Tuesday.