EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – COVID history is repeating itself by forcing a school to close in the Excelsior Springs School District, Deputy Superintendent Jaret Tomlinson told the Board of Education on Jan. 11. Coming out of the winter holiday break, “some of our highest peaks are starting to hit,” in terms of COVID cases, Tomlinson reported. The trend is like the one the district experienced following Halloween, he said. “We’re just going to have to weather that storm,” he said. The latest uptick has forced one school, Lewis Elementary, to shift to virtual-only instruction, which became effective Jan. 8, Tomlinson reported. “We had a positive case that spread to other people in the building and it ended up knocking out almost every classroom,” he said. “There were only a handful of classrooms that weren’t impacted, so it wasn’t worth keeping the whole building open for a couple classrooms.” Tomlinson announced a Westview Elementary classroom began quarantining Jan. 11. The coronavirus…