The Gilmer County School System continues to keep a close eye on its positive COVID-19 cases and accompanying data.
As of Tuesday morning, 73 Gilmer County students are in quarantine. That number includes those in the “modified” category, who are allowed to attend in-person instruction as long as they wear a mask for the duration of their quarantine while social distancing.
There are currently 10 students and seven staff members absent with a positive diagnosis.
“We’ve seen a bit of an uptick at Mountain View Elementary. We want everybody to be careful,” said superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley. “We did see a little bit of a bump the week after the Apple Festival, but it’s not been nearly as bad as we thought it would be.”
The system has maintained stringent sanitizing and cleaning protocols since its system-wide quarantine numbers peaked at 1,100 Aug. 23. Students and staff are encouraged to social distance as much as possible, and everyone is required to wear a mask on buses.
Because of the close quarters inside buses and colder weather on the horizon keeping windows closed, the mask mandate will remain in place.
“The masking on buses is what’s keeping our numbers so low,” Ridley said. “The quarantine rules have a 6-feet requirement so you can barely be on a bus with someone else and not be within quarantine distance. Having that mask requirement keeps kids from having to be quarantined (at home).
“We’re encouraging people to social distance. We’re splitting up the grade levels to keep people separate and keep crowds down. We’re providing masks if people want them, but they’re not required (in schools). We’re trying to do everything we can to get back to as normal as possible.”
Ridley and his staff assess the system’s COVID data on a weekly basis. Their plan is to keep the bus mask mandate intact through winter break and re-evaluate it in January.
“To be honest, I’d like to go ahead and stop it,” Ridley said. “We’re trying to return to as many normal activities as possible. We’re allowing athletics, winter chorus concerts and band concerts and things like that. This one concession is what’s really allowing us to do that in all the other areas.
“From our data points, it’s the thing that’s keeping the numbers low and kids in school. When kids are quarantined (at home), parents have a difficult time going to work. That’s not good for them, local business or their kids.”
The system has been combating COVID-19 since the start of the school year. Along with Aug. 23’s 1,100 students in quarantine, 127 were absent with positive tests.
“I’ve been pleased with how things have gone since we had that huge spike at the beginning,” Ridley said. “When the CDC came out with the modified quarantine rules and we started masking on buses, that was literally a game changer. Modified quarantine allowed us to keep kids in school. It saved our athletic and competitive seasons. It really made a big difference here.
“I know this isn’t what everyone wants to do. I’m asking the public to stay patient with us because I’m really proud of the Gilmer community. I know these things are not popular, but they’ve been really good and cooperative with us as a school district. I can’t say enough good things about parents. We’re trying to do right by kids and keep our schools open.”