Tag Archives: Quarantine

The Jackson County School Board considered whether a mask mandate might help keep the school system open during its Thursday night meeting. Parents on both sides of the topic gave their opinion, as the system is in its second week with 31 positive COVID cases. A mandate was not on the agenda and no vote was taken on the subject. ... Read More »

The CDC has relaxed social distancing guidelines inside schools from six feet to three feet. White County Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said this news is an exciting step in the right direction. Dronebarger said this will cut down on education gaps caused by quarantines. “What this will do for our schools is just limit the number of folks who ... Read More »

Clay County Schools held five meetings with less than 100 families to gauge their interest in Fall virtual learning. Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Misty Strong said the system wanted to show parents how virtual learning through a third-party would work. Strong said virtual instructors answered questions and meetings were recorded so students could watch. “The points of contact for ... Read More »

Two members of the White County Board of Education want outside medical opinions to revisit quarantine times after concerns of learning loss. The idea was first mentioned by District 1 Member Diana Haston during Thursday’s board meeting. Haston said some students have missed up to 40 days of in-person learning without testing COVID positive. “We have a large number of ... Read More »

Tennessee Tech has introduced an online COVID reporting tool for the Spring semester to streamline contact tracing. Director of Health Services Leigh Ann Ray said students and staff can report if they’ve tested positive, are isolating and waiting for a test or been in contact with someone positive for COVID. Ray said the reporting tool will send info from students ... Read More »

Dekalb County Schools will be fully virtual this week, after staffing shortages forced the school system to extend past the original December 11 return date. School Director Patrick Cripps said schools were already short on substitute teachers when Dekalb County High School was the only school going fully virtual last week. Cripps said the system tried shifting staff to other ... Read More »

White County Schools hope to stay open through the end of the fall semester, but are also preparing for a COVID case spike in January. At Thursday night’s school board meeting, Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said staying prepared has been essential to schools staying open. Dronebarger said cases were rising before Thanksgiving break but feels confident they will be ... Read More »

Clay County Director of Schools Matt Eldridge said a recent increase in quarantines drove the school system to virtual learning next week. “Somewhere around Monday or Tuesday, we had six to eight possibly (positive) and maybe 38 in quarantine,” Eldridge said. “Today, this week it has just jumped. That is why we thought this would be the best time to ... Read More »

Overton County Health Department Nursing Supervisor Megan Reeder said quarantining from COVID exposure can now end after 10 days. The CDC made the changes Wednesday after seeing low positivity rates after 10 days of exposure. “On day 11, you can then come out of quarantine with the stipulation that you are asymptomatic,” Reeder said. “You can not have any sort ... Read More »

All Van Buren County schools will go to virtual learning starting on Monday and lasting until December 4. School Director Cheryl Cole said this decision was made based on the number of teachers who were quarantined and a lack of substitutes to fill the positions. Cole said there is not a set number for staff she needs available, but will ... Read More »