UPDATE: On August 10, the Habersham County School Board voted to delay the start of school until September 8. Click here for details.
Habersham County schools will reopen to students this fall for the first time since shutting down in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students with serious health issues and those whose parents do not feel safe sending them back to school will be allowed to take classes online, according to the school system’s reopening plan approved today by the Habersham County Board of Education.
The school board approved a revised calendar, pushing back the start date from August 4 to August 21 to give the school system time to properly train teachers and staff on the new public health and safety guidelines that will be implemented as a result of COVID-19. The later start date also will allow the schools to “take inventory of how many parents want the virtual option and then design a high-quality platform for delivering the virtual learning,” explains county school superintendent Matthew Cooper.
Cooper explains that a third reason for the late August school start date is to give teachers more planning time to prepare for their students’ return to the classroom. Teachers and staff will return to school on August 3. “It is important to remember that our teachers have not been in their classrooms or worked face to face with students since March.”
Virtual school option
Students who choose the virtual option will no longer be enrolled at their home school, but will be enrolled in the newly established Habersham virtual school, called “Habersham Technology Academy”. Students who enroll in the virtual school will not be able to participate in athletics or extra-curricular activities.
Students who enroll in the virtual option are in the virtual option for the full semester and will not be allowed to return to their school until the next semester.
Parents choosing the virtual option must contact their child’s school principal. Parents may call as early as 9:00 a.m. Monday, July 20, and no later than noon on Wednesday, July 29.
Reopening plan
I believe our best chance at getting our parents and staff to support wearing a face covering is through education and respect for their personal decisions, not through a mandate or force. That approach simply would not work here in Habersham County. We must reach people’s hearts not try to change their minds. – Habersham County Supt. of Schools Matthew Cooper
As part of the reopening plan, students and staff will not be required to wear masks, but they are strongly encouraged to. The school system has secured 8000 washable cloth face coverings through the Georgia Department of Education.
“We will provide a face covering to every staff member and student, but it will be left up to the parents and staff whether or not they wear it,” Cooper says.
“We believe that mandating face coverings will destroy the trust that we now have with our staff and parents. As we head into the coming school year we must have the trust of our parents and in return, we must trust our parents to do what is best for their children and for their friends and neighbors.”
Board member John Elger expressed his concerns that Habersham Countians are not wearing masks saying the best way to save children and adults from misery “is to make that small sacrifice for humanity and not think of it as you cow-towing to the left-wing nut jobs who want to force you to wear them. That’s not what it’s all about,” he said to the board and an audience of hundreds who tuned in to watch the meeting live on YouTube. Elger expressed his desire that the school system will play a role in overcoming what he called the “gross irresponsible messages we’ve been getting from on high that somehow it’s your freedom to be a poor human being.”
Speaking to administrators, Elger said, “I ask that in evolving the reopening plan that that plays a very significant role in your thinking because it’s a cheap way to make this all work which we all desperately want it to do.”
Cooper acknowledged Elger’s concerns and those of others worried about the lack of a mask mandate saying, “This reopening plan is a living document it is subject to change at any time.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW REOPENING PLAN
Looking forward
The school system’s COVID-19 Response Team, made up of educators and healthcare experts, spent months developing the system’s reopening plan. Cooper says they met with a “high-level” official with the Georgia Department of Public Health this week and had them review the plan. “During the meeting, we were informed that our hospital is in good shape and that cases are not spiking here in Habersham County like they are in other parts of the state and nation.”
The number of new confirmed cases in Habersham County has leveled off in recent days and the county has steadily slid lower on the list of Georgia counties with the highest case counts since-mid June.
“As we get closer to August 21st I am looking forward to seeing the smiling faces of 7,000 students,” says Cooper. “We want our students to have some sense of normalcy in their lives and nothing can do this better than returning to school.”
