Gilmer County Schools’ system-wide positive COVID cases and quarantine numbers were nearly cut in half from a week ago.
However, there was a growing number of positives and quarantines in pre-K, and that grade level has been closed for the week.
“With the little-bitty kids like that, it’s very difficult to keep them apart, and it’s nearly impossible to keep masks on them,” superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley said. “There’s a lot of interactions with pre-K kids and we saw several positive cases among the staff and students, so we thought we’d shut that down for a few days and give that a chance to blow through. We’ll fog that building out and do everything we can to keep the little ones safe.
“With Labor Day (next Monday) being a holiday, we thought it would be a good time to shut down pre-K and get a couple extra days of shutdown without losing any school days and let some people get better.”
As of Tuesday morning, there are 634 students quarantined, which is down from almost 1,100 last week. Positive cases are down to 70, and 14 of those are staff. There were 127 total positive cases in the system a week ago.
“(Last Monday) we implemented a modified quarantine based on the department of public health guidance where students who had been exposed but aren’t positive could serve their quarantine at school as long as they were wearing a mask,” Ridley said.
“We had probably a couple 100 kids come back under those conditions. At one point last week we were probably close to 1,100 kids in quarantine. We had a huge wad at the beginning, and those kids are starting to come back. We’re very happy to see those numbers come down.”
Of Gilmer’s 634 quarantined, 199 students have returned to in-person instruction under the modified category.
Gilmer also implemented a mask requirement for all staff and students on buses last Monday. Social-distancing protocols in classrooms and during lunches are still in effect. Classrooms and buses will continue to receive “deep cleanings,” and cafeteria workers are still subject to regular temperature checks.
“We’re going in the right direction, and to me that says what we’re doing is working. If the numbers get down low enough, we may make some changes, but as of right now, what we’re doing seems to be effective,” said Ridley.
Masks in schools and vaccinations are not required for students or staff. Vaccinated students will not be quarantined following the 10th day after full vaccination. An exposed person with a documented COVID positive within the last 90 days will not be quarantined. Students who are masked during their exposure will not be quarantined.
“We still highly encourage masks in schools,” Ridley said. “We encourage people to consider vaccination and masking wherever they feel comfortable because it does help with the quarantine situation.”