Dougherty public schools begin re-opening process as coronavirus numbers show improvement

ALBANY — The Doughety County School System is dipping its toes into the pool — the kiddie pool — as classes resume on Monday for some elementary students.

Pre-kindergarten through second-grade campuses in the county will re-open, with students in grades 3-5 set to return on the following Monday, Oct. 5.

“Sending your student back for in-person, on-campus instruction is not mandatory,” LaKisha Bryant Bruce, the school system’s director of community relations, said during a Friday coronavirus news conference. “Parents have a choice in the instructional model they select for their children.”

Only parents who have spoken with their children’s schools and confirmed the choice of sending them back to the classroom should return them to campuses beginning Monday. All other children should remain at home.

No start date has been set for middle school or high school students. However, practice for sports has resumed, and teams will return to action for the fall season. As students return, they will be required to wear masks on buses and in the classroom. Students who cannot wear a mask due to a medical reason will wear face shields.

Clear, three-sided shields also have been installed on desks.

To keep parents notified, the school system will open a novel coronavirus dashboard that gives the number of students and staff who test positive and the number who are quarantined. The portal will open on Friday and give weekly reports that include individual classrooms.

As schools re-open, parents who believe their children are better served by online instruction or have safety concerns may choose to keep them enrolled in the virtual classroom setting at home.

The plan developed by the school system called for a 14-day period during which the number of new coronavirus cases fell below 5 percent of tests in the county being positive. It also calls for limiting class sizes to 16 students and staggered bells to limit the number of students in hallways at the same time.

Elementary and middle school students will remain in the same classroom, with teachers moving from room to room during the day.

Recently, the number of positive tests fell below 10 percent and even 5 percent, Dr. Charles Ruis, health director for the Southwest Public Health District said during the same news conference. After two peaks for the virus, in the last week of March and second week of July, the number of new cases has been declining recently, he said.

“It’s generally thought that a community that has an infection rate of less than 5 percent, that is a sign of a thriving community,” Ruis said. “That’s a good sign. It’s a suggestion, at least, that children going back to school can do so safely.”

As of Friday, there were 32 patients being treated for COVID-19 in Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital facilities in Albany, with a third of those being treated in an intensive care unit, Dr. Steven Kitchen, Phoebe’s chief medical officer, reported. That is a significant decrease from the first peak, when there were more than 70 COVID-19 patients and the second peak when numbers were in the low-40s.

“I think this is a reflection of the community’s response in doing (the right) things — wearing a mask, practicing good hygiene and staying away from large gatherings,” Kitchen said.

The physician encouraged residents to get vaccinated for the flu. Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, health care facilities around the world have been taxed by the burden of treating large numbers of sick patients, he said. If the flu season this year is severe and there is a spike in coronavirus cases, that could happen again.

“We have the opportunity to drastically impact the number of flu cases that we have,” Kitchen said. ‘The population that is most vulnerable of being seriously ill from the flu is also the most vulnerable to being sickened by COVID-19 as well.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]