The post-Thanksgiving COVID surge continues to impact Hall County Schools. The school district announced today it is temporarily closing another high school due to an increase in positive cases.
Chestatee High School students will switch to online learning on Monday, December 14. School district spokesperson Stan Lewis says over the past 36 hours, the school has experienced a “significant number of student absences due to positive cases of COVID-19.”
Chestatee is the third high school in Hall County to switch to online learning since students returned to class from Thanksgiving break. In-person students at East Hall High School switched to online learning on December 7. Students at CW Davis and Cherokee Bluff middle schools and Cherokee Bluff High School reverted to online learning on December 8.
East Hall High will reopen Monday, but the other schools will remain online through at least the early part of next week. CW Davis Middle School students are scheduled to return to class on December 16 while Cherokee Bluff students are set to return on December 17.
“There was not a significant reduction in quarantine numbers and positives cases in each of these three schools to warrant a return to in-person instruction,” explains Lewis.
Chestatee High will remain closed through at least Wednesday of next week. The entire facility will be deep cleaned over the weekend.
A “collective effort”
Hall County has the highest cumulative number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Northeast Georgia. Its current two-week positivity rate is 18.6%. At least 200 Hall County residents have died with the virus since March.
The Hall County School District continues to monitor quarantine numbers and positive COVID-19 cases in its 39 schools. “We are in daily communication with our principals, the North Georgia Health System, and the District 02 Department Public of Health,” says Lewis.
School administrators will decide next week whether to extend online learning for any of its schools.
In the meantime, the school system continues to encourage students, families, and employees to wear masks, observe social distancing, and wash their hands frequently. “Our ability to maintain in-person instruction relies heavily on our collective effort,” Lewis says.
