Yesterday evening, the Center for Disease Control announced that all students enrolled in K-12 schools should continue to wear masks in the classroom, regardless of vaccination status. However, Habersham schools will not require masks.
“The virus will not be our focus this year.,” says Habersham County Superintendent Matthew Cooper. “Our focus will be on our mission of ‘Success for All Students.'”
As the COVID-19 Delta variant spreads rapidly through the state, with COVID-19 hospitalizations up 170 percent from last month, the CDC’s recommendations sharply contrast their mask-free announcement from just months ago. The CDC still maintains that those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can participate in most activities they did before the pandemic, but recommends that people wear masks while indoors in public to protect against the Delta variant.
Anyone over the age of 12 is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Georgia, but this still leaves many elementary and middle schoolers unprotected by the vaccine. “At this point, there are no concerns with an uptick in cases,” Cooper says. “All of our adult staff members have had the opportunity to receive a vaccine and we know that the virus poses minimal risk to healthy students.”
While there are some COVID-19 policies in place in Habersham’s school system, the district plans for a back-to-normal school year. Online learning options will still be available this year for students and parents who do not feel safe returning to in-person learning.
The school system will not require vaccinations for staff or students, and will not offer or require COVID-19 testing in schools.
“The back-to-school season is one of the things I like best about the education profession,” Cooper says. “The start of a new year brings the hope that things will be better this year than they were in years past. I believe that this school year will be better for our students than last year or any year before.”
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