xiopan

Some people have symptoms but do not have cars; some people have symptoms but are afraid of the test or testing site workers. And some people are waiting to see if their symptoms are more than allergies and sore throats and other things they would usually ignore.

Indeed. A school of 1500+ students has almost 200 adults on campus. Classroom teachers and administrators of course, but also counselors, tutors, board members, parents, custodians, night shift cleaners, and security officers. In addition, there are those who go from school to school, like bus drivers, itinerant teachers of specialized classes (drum line, piano, art), speech and physical therapists,etc.

All of those people have their own social circles too, and it is folly to allow so many to have exposure to children who are thought to be usually asymptomatic.

We already have experienced a spike respiratory illness related absences in students as well as teachers, so the closure was a wise, if unpopular decision.