Cobb schools provides more safety information for reopening

Timber Ridge Elementary School, East Cobb Schools, Georgia milestones

Here’s a followup to Thursday’s announcement about classroom instruction resuming in October:

Cobb schools have put out a 16-page PDF with safety protocols and other measures that probably won’t answer all questions parents may have, but starting on Page 5 you’ll find more about the following:

Maintenance and daily cleaning
Transportation
Food service, virtual and in school
K-12 sample schedules

The tentative breakdowns for those returns are as follows: K-5 and special ed Oct. 5; middle school Oct. 19 and high school Nov. 5.

Starting Monday at 8 a.m., and continuing through Sept. 20, parents can choose which option—remote or in-person—they want for their children.

That option will continue through the end of the fall semester, and the Cobb County School District has said remote learning will be available for the rest of the 2020-21 academic year.

Teachers will be teaching students in their classrooms and remote at the same time.

More on health and safety protocols:

Positive COVID-19 tests

Masks are required for all teachers and employees and students returning to campus, as well as support staff like bus drivers.

The district said that anyone testing positive for COVID-19 will self-isolate for 10 consecutive days from the date of a positive test and is asymptomatic.

Students and staff also will have to go into quarantine if they have a suspected case and symptoms of the virus or were within close contact with someone who’s positive.

The district said it will inform those affected to stay home and will notify school officials if they have tested positive, have symptoms, are waiting for test results or are exposed to someone.

All schools will have designated isolation areas for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms.

Cleaning and sanitizing

The district said it’s in the process of having a fogging system put in place before students return, and each school will have fogging equipment and disinfectant.

All areas of school buildings—classrooms, administrative offices, break rooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, etc.—will be disinfected and cleaned daily, especially “high touch points,” including countertops, desk tops, door handles and chairs.

Hand sanitizers will be provided at every school, and at numerous locations, including school entrances, and “good hygiene measures” including frequent handwashing will be practiced.

Students will be encouraged to bring their own water bottles and to avoid sharing food or snacks.

Masks, meals and buses

Social distancing measures and mask-wearing will be mandatory, although the district’s protocols indicate it will be “sensitive to needs of students/staff with medical issues that make wearing a face covering inadvisable.”

Mandatory mask use also applies to students riding a school bus. Drivers will be required to wear masks, and buses will be disinfected after every route.

As for food service, students who remain at home will be able to continue to receive prepaid weekly breakfasts and lunches. “Individual schools will determine where meals are served” for students who return to school.

Classroom schedules

As for classroom instruction, the current four-day schedule for all-remote learning will continue, both for virtual and on school campuses.

Wednesday will continue to be a day for independent study and individual and small group teacher-student meetings.

We’ll be contacting school district officials to get more information about these and other reopening issues in the coming weeks. If you have any questions you’d like us to ask, please e-mail: editor@eastcobbnews.com.