SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
Officials of the Griffin-Spalding County School System today announced a revision to its mask policy, now requiring students and staff to wear masks while on campus and in district offices.
This change, effective immediately, is in response to an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases this weekend.
“I realize that not everyone will be happy with this change in our face-covering policy. However, this is an effort to keep schools open and do our best to keep students and staff safe. We will continue to apply existing mitigation practices such as cleaning and sanitizing high traffic surfaces, encouraging frequent hand washing, and social distancing where possible. We hope this is a short-term action in our pursuit of a long-term goal,” said Superintendent Keith Simmons. “We will continue to monitor COVID-19 in our schools weekly, and when the infection and transmission rates improve, we will revisit our face-covering policy.”
Masks will also be required on GSCSS buses.
According to data released Friday, 41 students and 12 staff members were positive for COVID-19.
Over the weekend, the reported case count has increased by more than 25 percent.
“We’ve increased by at least 11 more students and several more staff members over the weekend,” said GSCSS Director of Communications and Partnerships Adam Pugh, who said Simmons is closely monitoring the situation.
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Simmons is an idiot.