COVID-19 Mitigation Efforts Discussed By Cherokee School Board

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — The Cherokee County School Board at its strategic work session on Thursday heard an opening of school report, including efforts being made to maintain in-person school operations.

Superintendent Brian Hightower and his staff presented the school board with an update on the opening, both highlighting news like enrollment growth and the governor’s visit, and addressing COVID-19’s impact on staffing and implemented solutions.

“We are closely monitoring caseloads in our schools and community and taking steps to ensure we have the staffing needed to continue in-person school,” Hightower said, noting that a new central office substitute relief plan will be implemented Monday among other measures. “From central office certified staff rotating into schools as substitute teachers to classified staff working cafeteria lines to CDL-licensed transportation office staff driving bus routes, we’re ready to bridge the gap and serve.”

School COVID-19 mitigation efforts

• Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are awaiting a pending test must not return to school until they meet the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Return to School Guidance After COVID-19 Illness. Employees and students' parents are expected to follow doctor's instructions, including if they are told to quarantine due to a positive case in their household. Additionally, students and staff must not come to school with a fever of 100.4 or higher, and must not come to school until they have been fever-free, without the use of fever-reducing medication, for at least 24 hours.
• Parents are advised by email notification whenever a positive COVID-19 case is reported in their child’s classroom, on their bus, on their Cherokee Schools' athletic team, etc. Notification is sent to the entire class/bus/team rather than only students sitting within a 6-foot radius for 15 minutes. This is a change from last school year due to the increased rate of transmission of the delta variant.
• Parent notifications of a positive COVID-19 case in their child’s classroom/bus/team are sent based on positive lab result, note from a physician, or parent notification of a home COVID-19 test kit. The acceptance of home test kit results is a change from last school year. This acceptance is due to the increased demand for testing in the community.
• Cherokee Schools provides the Department of Public Health with a report every week of positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff reported to the district. Additionally, per protocol, Department of Public Health will inform Cherokee Schools of cases that have been reported to their offices by health departments/physicians, but which were not reported by parents to Cherokee Schools.
• Cherokee Schools' COVID-19 information and resources, including a report posted every Friday of all active cases among students and staff, are included on the bulletin board community resources page.
• Cherokee Schools is monitoring schools for significant clusters of cases, which is when numerous students and/or staff test positive in one classroom or other contained group at the same time. Seating charts have been created for classrooms and buses to identify any significant clusters of cases in consultation with the Department of Public Health.
• Teachers are expected to upload lessons and materials into the Canvas learning management system for the next week by Sunday evening. This new step for this school year enables an easier transition for remote learning, whether for an individual student who is sick or whose parents have decided to self-quarantine due to positive closure, as well as in preparation should a classroom require temporary closure.
• Custodial staffing remains increased for all schools.
• School air filters have been upgraded to the highest level possible for the HVAC systems.
• Plexiglass remains installed in fixed high-traffic locations such as cashier’s stations and front offices.
• Teachers, staff and students are provided with reusable masks and plastic face shields upon request.
• All classrooms are provided with food-safe, quick-drying surface cleaner and hand sanitizer.
• Additional school nurses have been hired to serve as district wide substitute nurses in addition to the district’s three lead school nurses who serve as substitutes as needed.
• Visitors and volunteers have been permitted in schools, but extended visits in classrooms and to cafeterias to share lunch with their children/grandchildren are not approved to begin until Sept. 1.
• Student assemblies have been held in schools the first two weeks of school, but none are scheduled for the next two weeks and large events attended by parents during school hours are not approved to begin until Sept. 1.
• Cherokee Schools' athletic programs are adhering to Georgia High Schools Association guidelines/Cherokee Schools Return to Play protocols.
• The use of video conferencing via Microsoft Teams is encouraged for school staff meetings.
• Facility Use Agreements for community use of schools in the evenings/on weekends must include a COVID-19 mitigation plan prior to approval.

Central office COVID-19 mitigation efforts

• An additional 80 substitute teachers have been processed last week to join the current pool of 600+ trained substitutes. Additional substitute training workshops have been scheduled.
• A new plan is in place to use central office staff to substitute in schools as needed (certified staff in classroom roles; classified staff in cafeteria roles).
• Transportation has instituted a new $200 referral fee for district employees, excluding the superintendent and his senior staff, who successfully recruit a new bus driver; this measure will help with overall recruiting and most immediately to help increase its permanent pool of relief drivers.
• Meetings with school staff will be held by video conference via Microsoft Teams.
• Professional development in-person training sessions scheduled for the next two weeks have been postponed.
• Deadlines for specific school reporting requirements have been extended.

Opening of school update

For the second school year during the pandemic, the district opened on time with both in-person and digital learning options for students. Student enrollment has increased this school year to 41,912 students, which is 974 students over projection. Enrollment continues to increase daily, which is in alignment with historical data, with an expected peak on the 20th day of school.

Parents have shared significant positive feedback in appreciation of the opportunity to return to in-person school, as well as the continued offering of a digital alternative. There are 905 students enrolled in digital learning in grades K-12, and an additional 140 high school students participating in our inaugural class of i-Grad Virtual Academy students. The district's digital learning program was overhauled for this school year to improve instruction and engagement opportunities for students.

The school board also welcomed its 2021-22 Student Advisor to School Board and Student Delegates for their first meeting.

The school board has included a Student Advisor position on its board since 1999, and for the past 11 years, a student delegate from each high school also has been selected. These students serve for one year to give input and feedback to the school board. The advisor role is rotated among the district's high schools.

This year's Student Advisor is Jason Adkins of Woodstock High School. The Student Delegates are: Lillie Cate Ergle of Cherokee High School; Ty Hubert of Creekview High School; Emily Collins of Etowah High School; Brian Bradley of River Ridge High School; and Elyse Robbins of Sequoyah High School.

To view more from the meeting, visit the district's recap online.