Bell County vaccine supply at risk of expiring, doses given to local hospital, three school districts
The health district said the doses were given to Cedar Crest Hospital, along with Killeen, Belton & Temple ISDs for teachers. Author: Jim Hice Updated: 6:29 PM CST February 13, 2021
BELTON, Texas Due to the closures of Bell County vaccination centers on Thursday and Friday and the potential for more closures next week, Bell County health leaders have determined that the county has more doses at risk of expiring Monday than it has the capacity to distribute through its vaccination centers, the health district announced Saturday.
Approximately 2,334 doses were determined to be in danger of expiring by midnight Tuesday.
Students already had today off, according to the KISD calendar.
Area high school sports are also affected by the weather. All Girls Basketball Playoff Games scheduled for today, will be rescheduled. We will share the information as soon as we have more information, according to KISD.
The KISD administration sent employees the following message this morning: Over the weekend we will continue to monitor the weather conditions and if it becomes dangerous we will communicate with you using our mass communication system, district website, local broadcast partners, and social media pages. Extreme cold temperatures are expected throughout the weekend and next week, please stay safe and warm. For your safety, we would recommend you do not travel on the roads today unless it is absolutely necessary.
âWeâre quickly approaching year-round school,â Killeen ISD Superintendent John Craft said.
The proposed âAdditional Days School Yearâ calendar â a Texas Education Agency initiative made possible by the passage of House Bill 3 by the Texas Legislature in 2019 offers additional half-day funding for school districts that opt to lengthen the school year at any of their elementary schools â would add 19 days to the regular school year calendar.
âNow, in full disclosure, this has some wrinkles,â Craft told the board Tuesday. âThere are some budgetary implications and just some things we really need to think through.â
Under the proposed calendar, at a select number of pilot elementary school campuses, teachers and staff would start back to school on July 19 with students start date of Aug. 3, an early start of nine days before the rest of the district would start back on the 16th. Students and teachers at those select campuses would
All Killeen Independent School District schools and district offices are closed today. Students will not be required to engage in learning today, this includes virtual and face-to-face learners, according to
With sleet and freezing falling today, the National Weather Service out of Fort Worth has upgraded a âwinter weather advisoryâ to a âwinter storm warningâ for Killeen through 6 p.m. today.
Jason Dunn, a meteorologist with the NWS, said that there are going to be some thunderstorms in Killeen today that will include sleet and freezing rain.
As a result of the thunderstorms, Dunn said, âtravel is going to be very dangerous and is not advised.â
The roads could have ice on them today and during the day Friday because temperatures will not rise enough to melt much, if any, of the ice.