School Starts Without a Glitch; Four Test Positive for COVID-19

Students returned to classes in the Jasper County Charter System last Wednesday, both in person and virtually, and the first week of school has gone by pretty smoothly, according to Supt. Kenny Garland and several parents who have commented.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the system has had two employees which have tested positive with COVID-19 and two students which have tested positive with COVID-19. “We have worked with the Georgia Department of Health to contact trace potential exposures and the recommended quarantine times have been enforced,” said Supt. Garland. Three of the four total positive cases are from a single household.

One of the two cases involving personnel was an employee in a non-classroom role with the system. Two classrooms, one at Jasper County Primary School and one at the pre-K, have been quarantined due to the protocol established by Georgia Department of Public Health guidance.

“Overall, we are off to a good start considering the issues we now face across our nation with COVID-19. We are establishing new routines with our safety protocol and it appears to be going well,” said Mr. Garland.

“The administration, faculty, and staff are working very hard to promote learning and keep everyone safe. I have been impressed with the attention to detail in terms of safety. I am very proud of their efforts. I also appreciate our students and families cooperating with our system in terms of the new protocols and procedures. We are now in session and we would like to remain in session. Everyone doing their part is a proactive way to ensure we stay in school.”

School also started at Piedmont Academy last Friday.

Below and on page 10 are photos of the first day of school sent in by parents.

The News was overwhelmed as more photos were sent in than could possibly fit in one week’s paper. We apologize if your child is not pictured. We tried to include as many as possible and have not ruled out running more next week. Our e-mail was overrun. Thank you for your interest!

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