The Habersham Board of Education held their first regular meeting since bringing students back to their campuses for in-person learning Monday, Feb. 8. The meetings are currently limited in capacity not to allow members of the community to attend in-person “due to the current surge of COVID-19 cases.”
Superintendent Matthew Cooper shared an optimistic outlook at Habersham Schools’ safety, with faculty and staff COVID-19 cases down by half since their return to in-person learning and student cases down from 34 active cases to seven active cases. “Things are going well. We need to be thankful for that,” Cooper said.
According to Cooper, nearly 30 members of the Habersham County Schools staff have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’re going to do everything possible as we go through the remainder of this school year to keep our schools open,” Cooper said. But “everything possible” doesn’t include any new or changed policies, like plans to require masks at school and school-sponsored events or decreasing class sizes, something parents like Neile Chambers have advocated for since the school system went virtual due to COVID-19 staffing issues at the beginning of January.
“What’s so wrong with saying, […] ‘we are concerned about the safety of our students and staff, so when we return to in-person learning, masks will be required of all participants, at all times?’ As a mother, that is what I want to hear: that you value my children’s lives and the lives of their teachers and staff,” Chambers told Now Habersham in a January interview. “I truly believe that instructors are bending over backwards to make safety and learning come together right now in the best way possible for learners. I am not certain that the administration at the county level has safety as the foundation of its decision-making.”
Cooper maintains that school is the best place for students to be, and that he believes students, parents, faculty and staff want to stay in school in-person rather than learning from home.
“We are committed to keeping schools open and want to avoid going back online. For now, we plan to continue with our current COVID-19 prevention protocols including a strong recommendation that students and staff wear a face covering,” Cooper tells Now Habersham. “Bear in mind that the Georgia Department of Public Health has strongly recommended face coverings in the guidance they have provided to public school systems. Unless we receive different guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health or Georgia Department of Education, I do not anticipate a [mask] mandate.”
You can watch the full meeting here.
