COVID-19 cases keep 260 Georgia education employees at home ahead of school reopenings
Georgia’s largest school district is missing a chunk of its workforce amid preparation for the 2020-21 school year after 260 employees tested positive for coronavirus.
Several Gwinnett County Public Schools employees are also in quarantine due to possible exposure to the virus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Though hundreds are excluded from work, district spokeswoman Sloan Roach said the number remains “fluid.”
“Through tracing, we know that the majority of these cases are the result of community spread, meaning we have people who’ve called in to report who have not been at school or work,” Roach told the newspaper.
Like many school districts across the U.S., the metro-Atlanta school district has had to adjust its reopening plans as COVID-19 infections continue to trend in the wrong direction. As of Monday, Georgia reported over 193,000 cases and more than 3,800 deaths, according to the state Department of Public Health.
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Gwinnett County has the second-highest rate of coronavirus cases in the state with over 17,700 infections, data show.
“Given the number of COVID cases in Gwinnett we would expect to see positives among our employees based on the community spread in our county,” Roach told CNN in a recent interview.
The district had planned to start the school year with in-person and online instruction. However, the worsening COVID-19 situation “required a change in those plans,” it said. The school year will begin with online-only instruction Aug. 12.
Employees must still report to work, however.
“GCPS leaders continue to study guidance from the Department of Public Health and the Georgia Department of Education in planning for the safest, most effective opening of school this fall,” according to the district’s website. “The district also has gathered input from our students, families, and employees of the district, as well as other community members.”
It’s unclear if the recently reported cases will spur new changes to the district’s back-to-school plan.
The return to school has become a hot button issue among parents who want their kids back in class and teachers who want to stay safe.
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On Saturday, parents in nearby Cobb County protested after the district took away their option to send students back to school and instead decided to start the school year with virtual learning only, WSB-TV reported.
“Kids do not learn as well digitally as they do face-to-face,” a local mother told the news station. “I just want the choice back to get my son back in school.”
Gwinnett teacher Ashley Newman is on the other side of the debate and told FOX 5 Atlanta she had no choice but to resign after the district denied her work-from-home request. Newman, who has a young daughter, said she doesn’t feel comfortable returning to work amid the spike in cases.
“The only reason it was denied is because [my daughter’s] school is currently open,” she said, according to the station. “They’re only accepting it for schools that are closed.”
Gwinnett schools began in-person planning for teachers last week and will no longer allow them to work remotely, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Teachers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that in-person meetings are happening without proper disinfecting in between, nor are face masks being worn as they should.
“Back in April teachers were considered heroes, but that messaging has changed,” Newman told FOX 5 Atlanta. “Now if you’re not willing to risk your life by going into a building unnecessarily, then you’re lazy.”
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