Area School Systems Adjusting to Rising Covid Numbers

As the Stephens County School System has implemented an Enhanced Mitigation Plan that includes required quarantines for students and staff that come into close contact with students who test positive for COVID-19, other area school systems have also made necessary adjustments.

Franklin County School Superintendent Chris Forrer tells WNEG’s sister station WLHR that there are no plans to bring back distance learning due to the rise in the number of COVID cases in the school system.

On Friday, Forrer said there has been an increase in the number of COVID cases in the school system but he said the first step to combat the rise in cases would be to reinstate mitigation efforts used last year.

Forrer announced at the recent school board meeting that the COVID chart will again be posted on the Franklin County schools Facebook page beginning today.

The chart indicates the number of students and staff with COVID and the number of students and staff in quarantine after having been exposed to the virus.

He said there might also be a video post encouraging eligible students and staff to get the COVID vaccine.

As of Tuesday, August 17, Forrer said there was a total of 24 positive cases of COVID in the school system, staff, and students.  He said Friday, he expects the number to be much higher today.

Most of the new COVID cases in Franklin County have been in adults over the age of 23, according to the Department of Public Health. There were 60 new cases in adults reported over the 14-day period leading up to August 13.

Madison County High School and Middle School are on distance learning this week.

In a letter to parents and caregivers, Friday School Superintendent Michael Williams said that there are positive cases in all of their schools.

Williams said a week ago on Monday, August 16, 30 positive student cases were reported in our schools (less than 1%).

However, on Thursday, August 19, there were 60 reported positive cases.

He said COVID cases in the middle school and high school had increased accounting for over half of the positive cases reported.

Williams said however that the elementary schools in Madison County would continue with in-class learning but with extra COVID mitigation strategies in place.

Those include limiting lunchroom capacity to 50%, plexiglass available in classrooms, desks spaced apart as much as possible, masks will be worn on school buses and in school when social distancing is not possible.

Additionally, he said each school has a mask break plan that was implemented last spring to allow students time throughout the day to remove their masks.

Williams added that school nutrition services will be available next week, and extracurricular activities will continue as scheduled.

He said the goal is to return middle and high school students to in-person learning on Monday, August 30th.

The Hart County Charter School System has not announced any special mitigation plans for students other than what was posted on the school’s web page before the start of class this year.

As part of the Stephens County School System’s Enhanced Mitigation Plan, the system has begin implementing preventative practices to ensure the system can consistently provide live school.

Those preventative practices include the following: Faculty and Students may choose to wear a mask based on personal preference; temperature checks will be conducted as needed in the classroom at teacher discretion; Stephens County Schools will follow all legally required isolation and quarantine guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health; and Schools will work to reduce the number of students in the cafeteria for lunch using the methods that work best for their particular community, such as an A/B schedule and meals in the classroom.

For additional information regarding Stephens County School’s Enhanced Mitigation Plan visit stephenscountyschools.org and click on the link for Return to School Plan.