Several Lumpkin County Schools staff members will have to sit out the first days of school after testing positive for COVID-19, school officials said Thursday.
According to school officials, 25 staff members at five area schools and its central office have the virus, and a few others are awaiting results, officials told the Dahlonega Nugget. Students are set to arrive to classes Monday.
“We have had some positive cases during pre-planning as we had predicted,” school Superintendent Dr. Rob Brown told The Nugget. “...With almost 500 employees returning back to work just weeks ago, we really didn’t know what to expect in terms of the virus spreading.”
The school system reported eight positive cases at Blackburn Elementary School, six at Long Branch Elementary School, four at Lumpkin County Elementary School, three at Lumpkin County Middle School and two at Lumpkin County High School, according to tracking information provided to the newspaper. Two additional cases were listed as employees at either the county office or in maintenance.
The school district serves more than 3,800 students. Brown said, considering the number of staff and students, the district has “very low numbers of spread in the past two weeks.” School systems such as Cherokee County Schools and Columbia County Schools have already started classes, and students, staff and sports teams have tested positive for coronavirus in the first few days.
“We realize this could change quickly, so we will continue to track the data daily,” Brown said.
Like Lumpkin County Schools, Cobb County Schools has received word that some staff members and students have tested positive for COVID-19 prior to classes starting soon. The district said since July 1 it has been informed by Cobb & Douglas Public Health of about 100 cases involving district students or staff members, Cobb County School District spokeswoman Nan Kiel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Some Lumpkin County parents have already opted out of in-person classes. According to Nathan Gerrells, assistant principal at Long Branch Elementary, the number of students enrolled in virtual school is now up to 630, making up about 17% of the school district.
The school system is making provisions for face-to-face classes such as offering staff COVID-19 testing with fast results. The school system will also participate in contact tracing with the local health department. Only those individuals who have been considered directly exposed will be required to quarantine.
Lumpkin schools were originally scheduled to return to school Aug. 3, but the school board voted at the July Board of Education meeting to move the start date back one week to have additional time for pre-planning,
“We are taking every precaution within reason to keep our staff safe in hopes of returning to and being able to continue with traditional schooling,” Brown said.
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