There have been 1,737 positive cases of the coronavirus among both students and staff within the Killeen Independent School District since March, as of Friday.
At the elementary level, 370 students and 446 staff have tested positive. At KISD middle schools, 219 students and 144 staff have tested positive, and 279 students and 145 staff have tested positive at high schools, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard, https://www.killeenisd.org/dashboard.
A total of 128 staff members have tested positive at KISDâs non-campus buildings.
At least two teachers have died from complications with the virus.
There were 20 active cases of the virus â 14 students and six staff members â in the district as of Friday, according to KISD. KISD keeps track of the active cases, by school, on its website.
City of Residence: Killeen
1. What was your upbringing like, what is your education level, and what brought you to the Killeen area?
I was born and raised in Killeen and spent my entire childhood attending KISD. I attended Harker Heights Elementary, Eastern Hills Middle School, Killeen High School and Harker Heights High School, where I graduated in 2002. I was fortunate enough to earn a scholarship to play football at the University of North Texas, where I earned a degree in Business Economics. It was also at UNT where I met my wife, Erin Mills, who now works as a Parent Educator for Killeen ISD. Shortly after graduating from college, we decided to move back to the only place Iâve called home and raise a family here in Killeen.
The Killeen Independent School District responded Friday and Monday to the Heraldâs report on deceased bus driver William âBillâ Jonesâ familyâs account of the events surrounding Jonesâ death last fall.
Killeen ISD bus driver Jones died by suicide less than 24 hours after he was terminated by Killeen ISD following an accident involving a middle school student and a Ford F-150 on the first day of in-person school. Read more here: https://bit.ly/39Knjsa.
The Herald received responses from the district to a number of questions, including Jonesâ termination report, via email at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, but Herald staffers did not see the email until Monday morning.
William âBillâ Jones was more than a beloved school bus driver for the Killeen Independent School District. Jones, originally from Birmingham, Alabama, served two tours in Vietnam for the U.S. Navy. He drove trucks commercially for decades before joining KISD as a bus driver. And, he had a family.
Jones, 75, was found dead at Cedar Gap Park in Harker Heights last fall from a gunshot wound to the chest less than 24 hours after he was fired from KISD following an accident involving a child and a Ford F-150 on the first day of in-person school, Aug. 31.
Jones was driving the school bus that day, when police said he failed to activate the flashing warning lights and equipment during a bus stop. When a child got off the bus, and then crossed the street, he was hit by the passing pickup, causing serious injury to the student.