Austin, Texas – With school barely back in session and varying mask mandates in place, many Austin-area school districts are being forced to partially close classroom doors again due to surging Covid-19 case numbers.

School districts are facing tough times and tougher decisions as Covid-19 cases are on the rise amongst students, teachers, and staff in the first weeks of in-person learning.

Last week, KUT Austin reported that Williamson County advised Leander ISD (LISD) to close its campuses due to a large uptick of cases within the district.

At first, the district refused, only to change course over the weekend by closing all sixth-grade classes at both Canyon Ridge Middle School and Wiley Middle School for 10 days.

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On Tuesday, CBS Austin reported that the district announced it would be closing all sixth-grade classes at Danielson Middle School from August 31 through September 10.

According to its health dashboard, Leander ISD has had 791 cases of Covid-19 since schools started on August 12, with 182 cases being reported this week alone.

Unfortunately, Leander ISD isn't the only district that's been forced to shut its classrooms doors.

According to KVUE, Round Rock ISD (RRISD) has closed seven classrooms at four different elementary schools – Fern Bluff, Caldwell Heights, Forest Creek, and Double File Trail – until September 7.

According to RRISD's Covid-19 dashboard, the district has a total of 516 cases, with 385 being students, and 74 being employees.

Austin ISD, which has a mask mandate in place, has 416 total cases of Covid-19 amongst staff and students, according to its Covid-19 dashboard. However, unlike LISD and RRISD, the district has yet to close any classrooms.

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The University of Texas opened its doors to students on August 30 without a mask mandate in place, though they are actively recommending students, faculty, and staff wear them. Since classes began, the university's Covid-19 dashboard indicates there have been 18 total cases of Covid-19, with 17 being students, and one being a faculty member.

With the Austin-area experiencing an ongoing surge in cases, it's likely that more schools will close classrooms if the upward trend of positive cases doesn't change course.