The Gilmer County School System’s bus mask mandate is still in place, but that could soon change.
Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley and staff continue to monitor and assess the situation as COVID positives and quarantines steadily decline.
“We’ve seen a massive decrease over the past few weeks. We’ve been very pleased with the results we’re looking at,” Ridley said.
“At the moment, we’re still in the process of evaluating masks, but it’s looking pretty good to me. We’re reassessing that right now. I’m in those discussions with my team, and we should have some information for the public within the next week or so.”
As of Tuesday morning, 106 of the district’s students are quarantined, down from a peak of 1,100 Aug. 23. There are currently 17 students and six staff members out with a positive diagnosis. That number has held steady over the past two weeks and is down from 127 total positive six weeks ago.
“Quarantining is intended to keep the infection rate down. That in itself was probably our most visible and disruptive manner of trying to mitigate the spread in schools, which is why we’re so happy to have the numbers down as low as they are,” Ridley said.
“The (modified) quarantining at school has helped a lot. When they released that secondary guidance that said kids could quarantine at school (while wearing a mask), that really changed the game. We all know it’s better for kids to be in school with a mask or without. A few weeks ago we were looking at nearly 1,100 kids in quarantine and now we’re looking at 100.”
Social distancing at schools continues to be an area of focus as lunches have been staggered to limit the number of people interacting at once. Increased cleaning and sanitizing methods will remain in place as the district continues to gather information and receive input.
“I’ve talked to a lot of parents on multiple sides of all the issues. Of course you can’t make everybody happy, but you’ve got to make the best decisions based on the information you have and the guidance you’re given,” Ridley said.
“I think our biggest challenge was just the sheer numbers we were dealing with in the first few weeks of school. Even at the height of the pandemic last year, we weren’t looking at these kinds of numbers. We were quite honestly overwhelmed. When Delta hit, it hit hard, and that initial wave was our biggest challenge. Looking at the level of community spread we’re dealing with now, I think the systems we have in place are more than capable of handling the issue. Hopefully, things will get better.”