Two Hamilton County schools temporarily close due to positive COVID-19 cases

Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Apr 16, 2014 The Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences is located on Third Street near downtown Chattanooga.
Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Apr 16, 2014 The Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences is located on Third Street near downtown Chattanooga.

A Hamilton County Schools official has confirmed to the Times Free Press that two schools - Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences (CSAS) and Loftis Middle School - will be closed Thursday and Friday for cleaning after someone at each school tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week.

The news broke on the evening of the first day back to classes since the school system shut down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

READ MORE: A different world: Hamilton County students start classes both in person and virtually

District communications director Tim Hensley confirmed the cases for the Times Free Press on Wednesday night and said the schools are doing cleaning measures per protocol.

"They've got a 14-person dedicated contracting crew that works with our health department," Hensley said.

Contact Monique Brand at mbrand@timesfreepress.com or at Twitter @MoBrandNews.

READ MORE: Two Walker County Schools staff members test positive for COVID-19

Upcoming Events