Mom of quarantined IPS elementary student raises concerns
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A mother of a child at an IPS elementary school is raising concerns after her daughter was one of dozens of kids asked to quarantine.
Indianapolis Public Schools says 61 students at Lew Wallace School 107 were instructed to quarantine for 14 days after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The situation has become a major concern for some Latino parents.
Noemi Arias says her 9-year-old daughter was one of the 61 students asked to quarantine. Her family moved to the U.S. from El Salvador a few years ago.
Arias says she’s still worried because nobody knows who will be the next person to get infected, but she’s confident that the school will do its best to keep everyone safe. She says her daughter wants to be in school and because Arias mostly speaks Spanish, it’s tough to help her in virtual learning. But she’s grateful the school gets information out in Spanish and English.
She says, for her kids, staying at home is boring. However, other parents say they’re not completely happy with the school.
Hector Turcios’ son is a fifth-grader at Lew Wallace School 107. He believes every student should return home until they’re eligible for the vaccination. The students have been in school less than a week and are in an area where the Hispanic community is prevalent. He says Indianapolis Public Schools acted irresponsibly because they did not call or send him an email about the situation.
The vaccination status of the staff member who tested positive was not immediately released by the district.