Savannah-Chatham public schools to keep COVID-19 safety protocols for second semester

Levett said local medical professionals said the district can keep its COVID-19 measures in place.

In slides presented to the board Wednesday attributed to Levett, she said there is a concern in the untick in transmission with the Omicron variant. The district said after two weeks, the district will decide if any changes will be made to COVID-19 strategies, based on board slides.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

In an opinion article published this week in the Savannah Morning News, Levett said the goal is for schools to remain open for in-person learning five days a week for the rest of the school year.

Levett wrote that the district is prepared to pivot, when and if necessary. Each school leadership team has emergency plans in place to alter schedules or routines to address new and increased infections. She noted that the district encourages families to prepare their own emergency plans.

Shelia Blanco, communications director for the district, clarified Wednesday morning that the district will hold school five days a week for in-person and E-Learning Academy students, which have 30,023 and 1,050 students enrolled, respectively. Blanco said that because E-Learning students study remotely, they would not be affected if schools were to close, but there are no plans at this time to offer hybrid learning — when half of the school work is done in-person and the other half online at home — this semester.

Blanco said the district had to shut down individual classrooms in the fall and move them to virtual learning for a short time to reduce the spread.

Increase in positive COVID cases

Historically, an increase in the number of positive cases in the school system mirrors an increase in the number of positive cases countywide. On Jan. 4, 317 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Chatham County, according to the Coastal Health District website at covid19.gachd.org, representing a 961% increase from Dec.17,  when 33 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Chatham County.

Although COVID-19 numbers have not been updated because schools have been closed since Dec. 17 for the winter break, COVID-19 infections began to slightly tick up just before the holidays. During the week ending Dec. 17, the school district reported 19 students and eight school personnel tested positive for COVID-19, a 15% increase in positive COVID-19 cases from the week ending Dec. 10. There were 322 students and 26 personnel in quarantine, a 175% increase over the prior week.

Schoolwide measures 

Levett said as of Dec.17, 4,738 SCCPSS district employees were vaccinated and more than 300 district employees were in the process having their vaccine status confirmed.

In addition to having in-person learning five days a week, the district will require:

• mask/face coverings;

• use of personal protective equipment (PPE);

• include cleanliness and sanitization practices

• practice social distance where possible;

• have capacity limits at events;

• have weekly COVID-19 testing for athletes;

• vaccinations will be encouraged but not required for staff and students;

• limited the number of volunteers and visitors who come into a school property. Visitors will follow safety protocols, which include temperature checks and a COVID-19 questionnaire, and

• ask people who are sick to stay at home.

Parents can find the district's COVID-19 measures by going to the health and safety tab on its website at SCCPSS.com.

Bianca Moorman is the education reporter. Reach her at BMoorman@gannett.com or 912-239-7706. Find her on Twitter @biancarmoorman. 

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham public schools to keep COVID-19 safety protocols for second semester