Community News
Board of Education passes mask mandate.
By Dave Whitaker
Aug 19, 2020, 22:28

Bleckley County has seen a recent spike in coronavirus cases the past two weeks. While part of it is due to outbreaks at a nursing home and correctional facility, there’s also been a high rate of community spread.\

Because of that spread, Superintendent Dr. Steve Smith introduced a mask mandate at last night’s monthly Board of Education meeting. According to a release issued after the meeting, Smith believed a face covering requirement would help slow the spread. He referenced an article stating South Carolina communities with mask mandates had a decrease in the number of positive cases.

The mandate will go into effect August 24. It will require students, staff, and visitors to wear face coverings while on school buses and in school facilities. It’s part of several safety measures implemented by the district including disinfecting of high touch areas, temperature checks of students on buses and as they arrive at school, temperature check of faculty, not allowing visitors to enter the building except the front office, having some classes eat breakfast and lunch in their rooms, as well as reducing or eliminating class changes when possible.

In other news from the meeting, Bleckley Elementary teacher Susie Maddox for being featured in Susie Pepper Rollins’ book “Teaching Vulnerable Learners.” Approved was the FY21 athletic handbook with a section on graduate assistants added.

Updating the primary school project, Smith said everything had been cleared from initial inspection of the modular building by the fire marshal. A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy had been granted by the state while the waiver request of the sprinkler system mandate was being reviewed. Also approved was the GaDOE Capital Outlay Project Contract.

Smith said demolition of the old high school was well underway. The Phase II schedule has been moved back two days, the updated timeline from meeting minutes looks like this:
7/22/20 Advertised
8/5/20 Town Hall Meeting (via Zoom) / Pre-Bid Conference
8/7/20 RFIs Due
8/12/20 Final Addendum Issued
8/20/20 Bids Due (2 pm)
9/3/20 Approve Phase 2 GMP

A called board meeting will be held September 3 to approve the Greatest Maximum Price for phase two. From the executive session, the board approved the superintendent’s evaluation and a three-year contract for Smith.


© Copyright 2015 by BleckleyProgress.com