CHENEY, Wash. — Cheney School District is currently dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks at nearly every school in the district, according to their data dashboard. One of the nearly 100 positive cases resulted in the hospitalization of a high school senior.
For the immunocompromised, COVID-19 could be a death sentence.
"I'm the one that pushed him to go to school, and now I regret doing that," Caryn Sexton said. "I regret letting him go to school."
Sexton's son is a Cheney High School senior who was in the hospital all day Monday. Ryan Stewart, 18, came home from school and told her he didn't feel well. He looked pale, so the family rushed him to the emergency room.
"He's sneezing, coughing, has no taste or smells," she added. "They told us it's gonna run its course and it could get worse."
Ryan, although vaccinated, has a weakened immune system. He has severe asthma and he suffered from a lung infection a few years ago that attacked his brain and spinal cord, landing him in the hospital for weeks. The school knows about his condition and told her they would be especially careful with him, she added. She called the school to let them know about his most recent hospitalization, and a few minutes later she received an email back.
"When I got the six emails yesterday that were like, 'Oh no, there's a COVID positive case,' I knew it was Ryan," she said. "Because I called them. To tell me that he's not in close contact, that totally lost my faith."
The district has 91 positive COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, according to their data dashboard. These cases are since Sept. 1.
"He's super cautious," she said. "Anybody can get it, even the vaccinated. But for the school to continuously send out emails that they 'weren't in close contact, don't worry about it,' that's what upsets me, because apparently, they were in close contact."
Her son brought home COVID to her family. Her husband, who is also immunocompromised, had to be hospitalized as well.
"I'm up in arms because I'm the sole provider for the family," she cried. "I have to take 10 plus days off of work because I can't go back to work without a negative test," she said. "I guarantee, with what I'm feeling now, I have it."
Ryan's case is just one example of schools struggling to manage the pandemic. In a board meeting tonight, the district assured families that they had a handle on the cases.
Othello High School announced on Monday that school will be moving to online learning starting Tuesday, Sept. 21 through Oct. 1 after hundreds of students were sent home to quarantine for COVID-19 exposure.
This comes after hospitals across the region say they are seeing younger and younger patients come into the hospital with a severe case of the virus.
Dr. Beth Martin at Coeur d'Alene Pediatrics said that in the past couple of weeks, the kids coming in are having fevers longer, coughs for longer and that "they feel miserable."
She has begun seeing children come in with COVID-19 needing to be placed on a ventilator and children with long-haul coronavirus cases.
"I guess my biggest thing was, I wanted other moms to know, other parents to know that, to ignore those emails that say 'your kid didn't come in close contact,'" she added. "Because I ignored it and now I'm in this situation. Trust your gut"
KREM 2 reached out to CSD today but hadn't heard back before the school board meeting. The officials said they may be receiving new guidelines for schools in the next week from the local and state health leaders.