Per Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order made in his press release today, Coppell ISD is extending its school closure until the end of the 2019-20 school year. 

Distance learning will continue through May 21 with the virtual graduation ceremony continuing on May 28. Plans for summer school for credit recovery are still being made by the district.

“Obviously I’m sad that as a senior, I’m losing a lot of the important dates like graduation, prom and banquets,” Coppell High School senior Nisha Elete said. “But with my mom [Dr. Uma Elete] being a doctor, I have direct exposure to what it’s like for people in the healthcare profession, so I know it’s for the best. I’m just trying to look at the positives of everything and educate myself on the importance of staying inside and flattening the curve, so I’m just trying to make the best out of the situation.”

On Wednesday, Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins issued an order requiring cloth face covering for Dallas County residents starting tomorrow. 

Everyone over the age of 2 must wear some sort of covering over their nose and mouth such as a homemade mask, scarf, bandana or handkerchief when visiting an essential business or using public transportation. Employees of essential businesses must also wear a mask during work. Essential business owners may turn away any customers who are not wearing facial covering.

Facial coverings are not a substitute for maintaining the six feet of distance between individuals and frequent hand washing. The primary role of wearing a mask is to reduce the spread of infectious particles when speaking, coughing or sneezing. This order is especially targeted towards individuals with COVID-19 but are asymptomatic or presymptomatic. 

Even before this order, many businesses have been requiring their employees to wear masks while working. 

“[CHS seniors] Vitto [Zanelli], Luke [Tanner[ and I were required to wear masks at all times already,” said CHS senior Clara Centeno, an employee at Pharmacy Plus. “One of us is in the lab, one of us is doing the drive-thru and one of us is doing delivery. So two of us are interacting with people and the other is interacting with chemicals, so we have to wear masks at all times.” 

For CISD, essential employees such as Child Nutrition workers or the technology staff who are interacting with the community have already been wearing gloves per the CDC’s recommendation earlier in the month. 

While many employees have already been following this guideline, requiring customers to also wear masks makes it a safer environment for both the worker and customer.

CHS senior Victoria Wiegand works at the Kroger on Sandy Lake Road and has already been wearing a mask, especially sent the CDC provided some to essential employees earlier in the week.

“It does make me feel safer when interacting with customers,” Wiegand said. “It’s important everyone should wear [masks] especially when you’re out in public. In grocery stores, the aisles aren’t six feet wide, so you can’t really maintain that safe distance, so it just makes me feel safer since I have to go through the aisles all the time and interact with customers in close range.”

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