COVID-19 is disrupting so much of life that it is difficult to keep up with the news.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has summarized the news of coronavirus cases reported in Georgia school systems and metro Atlanta governments this week. These are all fluid situations, so things might have changed by presstime, but visit AJC.com for the latest news on the pandemic.
Atlanta
• The Atlanta Public Schools board unanimously voted on Monday to postpone the first day of class until Aug. 24, which is two weeks later than the district had initially planned. The board said the delay gives teachers and families more time to prepare for online schooling.
Barrow County
• The school system decided this week to open the year on Aug. 17 with all-virtual instruction after about 90 staff members attending a teacher pre-planning session had to quarantine due to a confirmed COVID-19 case, Channel 2 Action News reported. Barrow had planned to offer in-person and virtual instruction options for students. A group of parents wanting the in-person option planned to protest the revised decision Friday.
Cherokee County
• The Cherokee County Tax Commissioner’s office will be closed through Monday, Aug. 10, because an employee who worked at its two locations tested positive for COVID-19, the county announced Monday.
• The Cherokee County School District has had several cases since starting the school year. On its second day, staff shut down a second-grade classroom at Sixes Elementary School in Canton after a student tested positive. The teacher and 20 other students must quarantine for two weeks.
• Then on Wednesday night, Cherokee Schools announced that a first-grade student at Hasty Elementary School Fine Arts Academy tested positive for COVID-19, which has put three children, the teacher and seven students from the after-school program in quarantine for two weeks. An eighth-grader at Dean Rusk Middle School tested positive, forcing 15 students to quarantine for two weeks. At R.M. Moore Elementary School STEM Academy, a kindergarten teacher had been working at school without symptoms on Monday but started showing symptoms after school that day. The teacher has not been confirmed to have the virus — but based on the teacher’s contact with a family member who since has tested positive, her class must quarantine for two weeks.
• On Friday, the district released information that there were several more cases. Cherokee County Schools is posting a weekly tally of its positive COVID-19 cases among employees and students. After the first week back at school, ten staff members at eight schools along with seven students at six schools have tested positive.
Here are the affected schools announced Friday, with links to the letter sent to parents: Cherokee High School, Creekland Middle School, Bascomb Elementary School, Woodstock High School, Etowah High School and Creekview High School. See the full tally here.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Cobb County
• The county school district reported this week there have been about 100 COVID-19 cases involving district students or staff since July 1. Cobb is set to begin its school year virtually on Aug. 17.
• Marietta City Schools, which started the new school year Tuesday with virtual-only classes, reported at least five staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
Columbia County
• The county school system reported three positive cases of COVID-19 among students this week, its first week of the academic year. The students were reportedly asymptomatic.
DeKalb County
• The central office of the DeKalb County tax commissioner is closed until further notice after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 this week. The facility on Memorial Drive near Decatur will be deep-cleaned. All other employees will be tested and remain on self-quarantine until results are received, Tax Commissioner Irvin Johnson said in a news release.
Tell us what’s going on in your district: Email us at coronaviruseducation@ajc.com
Fulton County
• Fulton County government shut down two tax offices, the Government Center (141 Pryor St. SW in Atlanta) and Greenbriar Mall (2841 Greenbriar Parkway SW, suite 106), “until further notice” because of the increased risk of spreading the virus.
• The revenue and permitting office at Sandy Springs City Hall is closed temporarily after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Residents can continue to conduct business online, said city spokesperson Sharon Kraun.
Gwinnett County
• On Sunday, Gwinnett County Public Schools — the largest school district in the state — reported that about 260 employees had tested positive for the coronavirus or are quarantining because of possible exposure as they prepare for the new school year. Teachers began in-person pre-planning last Wednesday at the 141 facilities throughout the county. And by the next day, the roughly 260 employees had been excluded from work due to a positive case or contact with a case.
• Gwinnett County Schools then announced Tuesday that it plans to start phasing-in face-to-face instruction on Aug. 26, with the goal being to have all students who choose in-person instruction back in classrooms by Sept. 9.
Lumpkin County
According to school officials, 25 staff members from across the five schools in the district and its central office have tested positive for COVID-19. Four more were awaiting results as of Thursday afternoon, according to the local paper, The Dahlonega Nuggett. The district is set to begin the school year Monday, Aug. 10, with a mix of in-person and online classes.
Paulding County
• A student tested positive for COVID-19 on the first day of classes on Monday. Students in “close contact” to the student are quarantining for two weeks.
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