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Barrow County schools to return to full-time, in-person learning

Published  September 15, 2020 11:37am EDT
Barrow County
FOX 5 Atlanta

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - The Barrow County School System says it will begin in-person learning on all weekdays starting next Monday.

Officials tell FOX 5 that the decision to resume in-person learning 5-days a week on Sept. 21 comes after viewing the last two weeks' positive improvement on spread of COVID-19. 

"Nine of the past ten days have been in the yellow or moderate virus spread level. While we are encouraged by this, we implore our community to continue to take steps to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus," Barrow County School officials said. "This will help us to continue in-person learning and avoid school closures." 

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For the week of Sept. 3 through 10, officials say there were a total of 19 cases of students and 32 cases of staff who either had a positive COVID-19 test or had direct contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

Currently, 26% of students are enrolled in distance learning, a choice that will remain unless their parents choose to switch them to in-person before the school system's deadline.

As the school system begins the transition, officials estimate that schools will be at around 75% capacity.

"This means students will be in closer proximity, especially in hallways during transitions," officials said. "We encourage students to continue to be aware of your actions, wear the required mask, don’t touch your face, and consistently wash your hands."

Know how the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting Georgia

Masks will still be required during school and officials say they are working to help students be as physically distant as possible. 

While officials believe the trend in the county is improving, they admit that the crisis is not over and that there is a possibility that schools will go back to the A/B hybrid schedule depending on the latest data.

"There will be daily decisions that will have to be made as we move along through the school year," officials said.

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