COVID-19 cases in Whitfield County Schools drop from peak

Published 2:00 pm Friday, September 17, 2021

After peaking last month, the number of student cases of COVID-19 in Whitfield County Schools has decreased recently, a drop that coincides with the school system instituting a mask mandate in late August, with opt-outs.

“I don’t know if it’s the masks — it could just be the flow of things — but (masking) is the only thing we’ve done differently,” said Deputy Superintendent Karey Williams. “Everything else — social distancing when we can, emphasizing washing hands and using the Ecovasive (antimicrobial spray in buildings) — we’ve been doing and continue doing.”

“The only difference is we took that extra step (of masks) to keep our schools open,” Williams said. “Our numbers dropped in half” last week from the prior week.

Whitfield County Schools reported 64 positive cases among students last week. The prior week that figure was 121.

Whitfield County Schools reported 167 student cases of COVID-19 the first two weeks of school before instituting the mask mandate for students and staff when social distancing isn’t possible. Parents may contact their child’s school or their children’s schools to opt them out of the mandate.

Several studies from the 2020-21 school year demonstrate mask wearing in schools is an effective prevention strategy, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report updated in July. When mask wearing is inconsistent, outbreaks can occur, and that’s even more likely with the more contagious delta variant this year.

When students are forced to miss school due to COVID-19 or quarantine because of possible COVID-19 exposure, “teachers give them work as if they’ve been ill,” Williams said. “Some of (the content) is put out through Google Classroom, but mostly students get makeup work as if they were absent, (and while) it’s inconvenient, it’s allowed us to keep going.”

When teachers are out of school “it’s more difficult,” especially if “they’re sick and can’t work” from home, she said. “A couple weeks ago, we had so many openings we wondered if we could keep going” with in-person school, but “it’s better, now.”

If too many students and/or staff members had COVID-19 or were in quarantine at a given school, the school system would first mandate virtual learning for that school for a period of time, rather than shifting to virtual learning for the entire school system, she said.

“It’s been in pockets, and, if we have to, we’d do it for one or two schools before we closed the entire district.”

Whitfield County Schools reported 15 staff cases of COVID-19 last week, down slightly from 17 the prior week.

“It’s been a heroic effort by other teachers, because we don’t have enough substitute teachers — the sub pool is a lot smaller (than typical) — so teachers are giving up their planning time to cover other classes,” Williams said. That goes beyond teachers, too, to other staff, like School Nutrition personnel.

This school year, “we’re usually short one or two people in each school kitchen” daily, but there was one recent day where “they were down five or six” at Southeast Whitfield High School, so teams of administrators and teachers stepped “in to do the serving,” she said. “Every person in the school building is being used, and they’re tired.”

Last month, the Whitfield County Board of Education approved 5-0 a pay increase for School Nutrition employees of 65 cents an hour, which brings starting wages for those workers to $10.52, in order to attract and retain workers.

“That puts us in line with” other area school systems, like Calhoun, Dalton and Murray County, which all raised their pay rates this year, according to Angie Brown, director of School Nutrition. “We were the lowest.”

It’s “so important” to continue in-person instruction, where students can “get answers to questions in a timely manner, and you don’t realize how much kids learn from other kids,” Williams said. “They may ask the question you didn’t know you needed to ask.”

Additionally, students “stay on task better” in school than at home, she said. Outside of school buildings, “there are lots of distractions that can pull them away from their learning.”

Current prekindergarten enrollment is 322 out of a possible 332 spots, Williams said. “Usually, they’d all be filled, but a few parents are leery about bringing kids in” due to COVID-19, because “those little ones just don’t wear masks.”

“Usually, we have about 100 on the waiting list, but this year we have 39,” and staff members are contacting families on the waiting list to see if they want to take one of the open spots, she said. “I’ll be glad when all the spots are filled.”

Whitfield County Schools’ prekindergarten program began in 2003 with one class of 20 students, according to Salena Weed, director of prekindergarten. “We’ve served over 3,600 students” since and “made a huge impact.”

Many students develop bonds in prekindergarten that last as they age, and reading has been a main focus of prekindergarten since the beginning, Weed added. “We’ve given more than 2,000 books this year” to students, and “there’s no way of calculating how many books” have been provided since 2003.

More Whitfield County Schools students are dual-enrolled this school year than last at either Dalton State College or Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Williams said. This year, 197 dual-enrollment students are taking 297 courses, up from 163 at this point last year.