Longtime Kennewick School Board leader sickened with COVID

Kennewick’s school board president is quarantining herself after coming down with COVID-19.

Dawn Adams, a 20-year veteran of the school board, posted about her diagnosis on her personal Facebook page, according to a post shared by KONA radio.

The Herald was not able to reach Adams on Thursday.

She is the first local elected official to publicly report testing positive for the coronavirus.

“I have some friends and/or acquaintances on FB who believe this COVID virus is a hoax and it will end after the election,” she said. “I can assure you ... this is no hoax. Sadly, it doesn’t go away after the election.”

She has been one of the voices urging the district be cautious in how it handles the virus. She was one of the three votes for moving classes online at the beginning of the year.

The district saw its first case of a student in class with COVID-19 this week.

The district also reported two more staff members at Kamiakin High School have tested positive. That brings the total to 11 cases across the district since late August. Pasco has reported having four cases, and Richland schools have reported no cases.

Feeling ill

Adams said in the post that was shared on Wednesday that she contracted the disease during a trip even after wearing her mask, sanitizing her hands and keeping her distance.

She started feeling ill on Saturday and worse on Sunday. She was tested and learned the next day that she tested positive, said the post.

Since getting the diagnosis, Adams has quarantined herself, she said, adding she has all the symptoms and can’t predict if she’s seen the worst of the virus.

Adams was not online at Wednesday night’s virtual school board meeting, where school district leaders went over the steps they have taken to prevent COVID from spreading inside the schools. The reason for her absence was not mentioned.

The Kennewick native was originally appointed to the board in May 2001 and ran for election later that year.

This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 12:08 PM.