According to district officials, more than 260 employees in Georgia’s largest school district tested positive to coronavirus or have reported being potentially exposed to the disease, a week before the school year is set to begin.
What We Know:
- Many teachers in Georgia’s largest school district, Gwinnett County Public Schools, were not allowed to work from home and began in-person planning at 141 different county facilities on Wednesday. By Thursday, about 260 employees called in to report a positive COVID-19 test result or possible exposure to a case and were then excluded from work.
- Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks announced last month that the massive district, with 180,000 students located in the Atlanta suburbs, would not offer in-person classes when instruction begins on August 12, saying that all classes would instead be taught online. However, Wilbanks shared that teachers would still be present in the schools as they would deliver the online lessons to students from the classroom. While most teachers were expected to be in the schools, some staff members would be allowed to work from home “to address individual concerns.”
- Days after Wilbanks’ July announcement for only online classes, almost 500 parents and students held a protest demanding the district officials make in-person instruction an option. An additional 6,000 people have signed a Change.org petition in support of in-person classes in Gwinnett County.
- District spokesperson Sloan Roach said that the number of exposed employees is expected to change as new cases are reported and others are cleared from their quarantine. “Given the number of COVID cases in Gwinnett, we would expect to see positives among our employees based on the community spread in our county.” Roach shared that their tracing efforts have determined most of the cases are a result of community spread. The county, Georgia’s second-most populous, had more than 17,780 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday, with at least 240 deaths.
- According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, teachers in the district have anonymously reported that in-person meetings and training sessions are taking place without areas being disinfected and sharing that masks are not being worn at all times. Others have claimed that their school still hasn’t received any hand sanitizer or other disinfectant products.
- Gwinnett County Public Schools is just one of the many districts across the country adjusting their back-to-school plans to prevent the spread of the virus. President Trump has steadfastly maintained in recent weeks that it is essential that schools reopen nationwide despite the continued rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and death.
District officials have not said if the newly identified positive cases have changed the district’s reopening plans.
