Lower COVID cases cause change in Bulloch school protocols

Based upon lower rates of spread in schools and in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Status Report, Bulloch County Schools will transition from its High-Spread to its No/Moderate-Spread COVID protocols beginning Monday, November 8. This is in keeping with the school district’s 2021-2022 Return-to-School Plan for Infectious Illness Mitigation.  

Bulloch County Schools will continue to serve students in both its traditional face-to-face and virtual learning settings, and as announced on Oct. 29, it will also add a Learn-from-Home option for families in the second semester. School district leaders will continue to monitor local public health conditions from trusted sources and implement appropriate protocols from its plan. 

Superintendent Charles Wilson and school principals discussed the change on Wednesday during the district’s monthly leadership meeting. The school district began transitioning to its High-Spread protocols on August 13, and they were fully in place at all schools and offices by August 20. During that 12-week period the school district went from a high of 468 cases, 4,905 close contacts and 33 clusters in the third week of school to 5 cases, 1 close contact, and no clusters in week 13, which ended on October 30.  
The main operational changes from High-Spread to No/Moderate-Spread are as follows:

• Clean/Disinfect – Schools and offices will be cleaned on a regular routine schedule instead of between each use. 
• School Meals – School cafeterias will return to 100 % capacity and social distance markers removed 
• Recess – Classes may interact together at recess instead of being kept separate.
• School Buses – Buses will be disinfected and cleaned on a normal routine schedule instead of after each route, and children do not have to social distance and remain seated with their household family members. 
• Field Trips – Field trips will be allowed if bus drivers are available.

All families are encouraged to continue to practice the personal responsibility of conducting a daily health self-check, especially during this season of holiday gatherings and upcoming school holidays. A guide for parents and employees was emailed and sent home with each child in October.  It is also attached below and available on all district and school websites.  A weekly report of COVID-19 cases, close contacts, and clusters is posted to all websites each Sunday evening. 

Superintendent Wilson continues to share the importance of keeping schools open and operating. “I want to reiterate that it is imperative that we continue to keep schools open and operating under the most normal conditions possible, providing our students with a sense of stability while attending to their overall psychological, emotional, mental, academic, and physical well being,” Wilson said.
The Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID spread scale is composed of four levels: High, Moderately High, Moderate, and Not Calculated.

The DPH’s most recent report places Bulloch County in the Moderate category.  This level has remained constant over the past few weeks, but the school district wanted to monitor any possible impact that major events like the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair and Fall Break had on spread levels before transitioning to its No/Moderate protocols.