Habersham County’s eight Homework Centers will not reopen when school does. On Tuesday, the Homework Center board voted unanimously to delay reopening until, possibly, later this fall due to COVID-19. The Board will re-evaluate the COVID-19 situation in mid-September to determine appropriate next steps.
Board chairperson Rhonda Andrews says the board made its decision after reviewing the executive order by Governor Brian Kemp and “much discussion.”
“One of the main concerns expressed by the HWC board members is the inability to limit mixing of students from different classrooms and grades,” explains Andrews. “To do so would place an impossible financial burden on HWC, as well as the difficulty in finding qualified workers to increase the supervision that would allow more separation of students, not to mention the space limitations at the schools.”
Andrews says the HWC Board is also “unwilling to accept the potential liability this current pandemic situation could cause.” The HWC board is a volunteer board and, unlike the school system, does not have sovereign immunity.
Habersham Homework Centers was established over 25 years ago as a non-profit organization that is a separate entity from the Habersham County School System. A governing board, which operates under a set of by-laws, exists and meets quarterly to oversee operations.
HWC has operated in all eight elementary schools for the past 25 years as a support to parents for after school care at a reasonable price.
“The HWC Board regrets that the current pandemic in our community makes it imprudent to provide this service to parents now,” Andrews says. “Hopefully, the community spread in Habersham County will decrease over the course of the next month and the HWC Board can consider a limited opening to students in October.”
