Community News
BOE votes to allow asymptomatic students, staff to return if masked.
By Dave Whitaker
Aug 18, 2021, 18:07

Like many school districts, Bleckley County is having to deal with a rise in COVID-19 cases and quarantines due to the delta variant. At Tuesday night’s monthly meeting, the Board of Education discussed the matter and came up with a plan they hoped would keep students in school.

Discussion began with superintendent Dr. Steve Smith going over numbers. He noted that on day one, there were 29 students who’d tested positive, The number was at 30 as of Tuesday. But the number of quarantines had gone up from 68 on day one to 107 on August 13 to 151 on Tuesday.

Smith also went over an employee survey, noting 65.7 percent of 299 employees were in favor of returning to a mask mandate if it meant cutting down the number of quarantines. He mentioned a policy adopted by the Walton County School District.

That policy allowed for students who had been quarantined and were asymptomatic to return to school if they wore a mask. After much discussion, on a recommendation from Smith, the policy was adopted for both students and staff with the following conditions. 1. The student or staff member must not have had a recent positive test. 2. There must be no positive tests within the same household.

In a release issued Wednesday announcing the policy, Smith made it clear that anyone in isolation due to COVID must complete it before returning. He also said another reason for the policy was because of seeing students who were supposed to be home in quarantine out and about around town.

The vote on the new policy was 4-0 (Chair Mike Sasser was out of town.) The board agreed to meet in two weeks (either in person or via phone conference), to discuss the numbers and make adjustments if needed. If there is a “dramatic” increase in the number of cases, Smith said they agreed to discuss a system-wide mask mandate.

Also concerning COVID, Smith went over an employee survey regarding vaccinations. He noted 53.8 percent of respondents had at received at least one shot. In the same release announcing the new policy, Smith said he believed the vaccine was the best defense against COVID but noted it was a personal decision hopefully made between the person and their doctor.

Dr. Andrea Williams with Lesley Brown and Samantha Williams/.

Smith with Nutrition Director Kelli Green and school nutrition staff.