What Georgia schools do when students return to classrooms as COVID cases rise

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CNN –

Stephanie Watts admits she is worried about bringing her granddaughter and son back to school on Monday.

“I’m scared,” Watts told CNN at the vaccination event in DeKalb County, Georgia. “I won’t tell any lies. I’m afraid.”

But that’s why Watts is taking the teens, hoping to keep them healthy and safe from Covid-19 when they go back to their schools in the Atlanta area.

“Sometimes you’ll have to take a risk, sometimes you don’t. Right now, going back to school is a risk,” Watts said. “But I also want them to get their education.”

Many Georgian families like Watts are facing the first day of school this week, and their students were among the first to return to school. And with Peach State resuming classes in the coming days and weeks, it could offer a glimpse of what going back to school will look like for a country reeling from a summer wave of Covid-19 driven by a highly pervasive delta variant.

With 181 school districts, the first day of school varies across Georgia. But some of the state’s biggest areas are making a comeback this week, particularly in the metro Atlanta area.

DeKalb County, which includes part of Atlanta, begins Monday, as do Cobb and Clayton counties in the northwest and south. Atlanta Public Schools students start the year Thursday, and Gwinnett County Schools — the state’s largest area — will begin on Wednesday, but their grades alternate between in-person and distance learning Wednesday, Thursday and next Monday.

Like much of the country, Georgia is seeing a rise in the number of Covid-19 infections. As of Friday, the seven-day moving average of new daily cases was more than 3,000 cases reported per day for the first time since early March, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

The Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday that the rate of cases rose by 204% over the previous 14-day period, while the number of hospitalizations jumped about 50% and deaths about 18% in the same period.

Dr. Rochelle Wallinsky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Fox News Friday that the Covid-19 virus can actually affect children, even if in smaller numbers than adults.

“More hospitalizations have occurred in the over-65 demographic, but we’re seeing illness in some children who get Covid, which is a disease at higher rates than the flu,” she said.

She said schools are also a source of the spread of Covid-19.

Her agency released guidelines last month that emphasized personalized learning as a priority, and many areas will return students to schools. Richard Woods, Georgia State School Principal, said last month that how schools choose to deal with Covid-19 will be left to local areas.

In Cobb County, there will be social distancing in classrooms when possible, according to the district’s website, but masks are optional for students and staff. Masks are recommended but optional at Fulton County schools, with students beginning August 9.

Atlanta Public Schools will require masks for all students and teachers, along with other prevention strategies such as physical distancing when possible, as will Dekalb County and Gwinnett County. The latter previously said masks would be optional, but the district changed its stance last week, citing CDC guidance, the district’s “rising COVID-19 cases” and the ineligibility of young students for a vaccine.

Some Gwinnett County parents opposed the decision and protested in the county office Friday, according to CNN affiliate WSB-TV. One participant showed a sign that read, “Masks are hurting children more than Covid ever,” and showed the video.

Watts — whose granddaughter goes to school in Newton County, about 26 miles east of Atlanta, and whose son goes to school in DeKalb — sees no problem with students wearing masks.

“Everyone should get used to it by now,” she said, adding that teens wear face coverings.

“With vaccines, I think that would help,” she says. “I pray that he does that.”

04:11 – Source: CNN

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Counties in other southern states also begin classes this week or face an imminent return: Birmingham City schools in Alabama also begin Monday. Schools in Jefferson County, which includes the city of Birmingham, begin August 10.

Florida’s Broward County schools welcome students again August 18, while neighboring Miami-Dade County Public Schools – the largest in the state – will return August 23.

The student returns come as data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the vast majority of counties across the South are experiencing “high” levels of community transmission of Covid-19. This means they have 100 or more cases per 100,000 people or a positive test rate of 10% or higher.

But it’s not just about the South: Across the country, students are preparing for another school year for the pandemic as their communities are once again under assault by the coronavirus.

On Sunday, cases in every state were up compared to the previous week, according to an analysis of Johns Hopkins data. Cases are up more than 10% in 48 states, 34 of which are up more than 50%. Nationally, the seven-day moving average for new cases was 78,600 cases reported per day on Saturday, up from about 12,700 cases on July 1.

02:21 – Source: CNN

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The good news is that Covid-19 vaccines are effective in reducing the risk of severe disease and infection. But many students are too young to be vaccinated: Only those 12 or older are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine. And even among those who qualify, federal data indicates that millions of teens across the United States will return without being vaccinated.

This makes masks an important tool in keeping people safe, and last week the CDC recommended that everyone wear masks in schools, regardless of their vaccination status.

“During the summer, we had several outbreaks in summer schools that occurred when masks were not worn,” Walinsky told Fox News on Friday. “Judicial authorities have had to close schools as there are too many congregations in the school system.

“So my primary goal is to get all of our children back in person, safely, to full-time learning, to do that, and to be able to keep schools open to prevent those congregations from happening at school.”

However, of the country’s 50 largest school districts, only 23 needed masks as of last Thursday, including the country’s three largest, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Others included Clark County, Nevada; Fairfax County, Virginia; Charlotte Mecklenburg, North Carolina; and the Hawaii Department of Education.

Masks were optional in 20 districts, mostly in Texas and Florida, including the Houston Independent School District and the Dallas Independent School District. Three other districts were hesitant, and four districts did not respond to CNN.

Among those requesting masks were Broward County Public Schools, while Miami-Dade County Public Schools — the fourth largest in the country — announced that it would reconsider its optional mask policy.

However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, issued an executive order on Friday directing the state’s health and education departments to provide rules to prevent such mandates – despite the rise in cases – and to allow parents to make the decision about masks for their children.

He also said there will be no closures, school closures or restrictions in his state.

In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine, another Republican, was taking a different approach. CNN’s Jake Tapper told Sunday that the state was encouraging masks because many students would not be vaccinated but left Covid-19 mitigation protocols for local schools.

“We had a great success last winter, last school year. We saw almost no outbreaks in the classroom when all the kids were wearing masks. So we recommend – a strong recommendation for our schools – that they do so,” he said. “Now some will, and some will not.”

04:34 – Source: CNN

More than 100 students quarantined after Atlanta charter school reports positive cases

The risks are clear, even with masks and other precautions: Back in Atlanta, at least nine students and five staff members tested positive at Atlanta’s Drew Charter School just two days into the school year, prompting more than 100 students to self-quarantine.

Peter McKnight, the school’s principal, told CNN Saturday that the school tested about 1,900 students and staff before reopening. It was also enforcing masks and social distancing, among other measures. He said the school felt ready.

Vaccinations weren’t mandatory for employees, but that’s also under consideration, McKnight said.

“This is definitely not what we were expecting at the start of the school year,” McKnight said. “And I know that’s not what our families expected either.”

Natasha Chen, Kevin Conlon, Camille Forrest, Maggie Fox and Elizabeth Stewart contributed to this report.

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