Approach
Barrow County School System leaders have utilized an intentional, data driven approach to planning for learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Detailed explanations are provided below. In addition, we believe that transparency inspires trust in this time of uncertainty. Further down this page, you can see how BCSS determined when it was safe to resume in-person learning based on community spread level. Select students returned to school campuses on Monday, Aug. 24. From there, we added cohort days for a few weeks and then welcomed all students who opted for in-person learning full-time on Sept. 21. We will be sharing the current COVID-19 case data for the district each week, which you can review at the bottom of this page.
On March 14, Governor Kemp issued Executive Order No 03.14.20.01 declaring a Public Health State of Emergency due to the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. For the safety and protection of children and their families across the state, Governor Kemp, in collaboration with the GA Department of Public Health and GA Department of Education, closed public school buildings for in-person instruction through the rest of the 2019-2020 school year. Since then, Governor Kemp has implemented a phased approach to slowly lift restrictions in Georgia while combating COVID-19, protecting Georgians and working together to recover the economy.
On June 1, the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Department of Public Health released Georgia’s Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools. This plan provided guidance for reopening school this fall. It was then modified and re-released on July 13th. You can access the plan here.
Governor Kemp and Georgia Superintendent Richard Woods also established K-12 Restart Working Groups designed to assist in planning for next steps and providing guidelines on six key topics for reopening schools.
Guidance from all of the above groups has been taken into consideration for developing a custom action plan for Barrow County School System that is grounded in our mission and strategic goals. We’ve collaborated with regional school systems and received input from our School Governance Teams. BCSS task forces were also established to tackle the numerous logistical details and considerations to reopen school safely for our students and staff. A district survey was conducted the last two weeks of school to get input from parents, students and staff and those responses have influenced our planning and approach as well.
The COVID-19 virus is mostly spread by respiratory droplets released when people talk, cough, or sneeze. The virus may spread to hands from a contaminated surface and then to the nose or mouth, causing infection. That’s why personal prevention practices (such as handwashing and staying home when sick) and environmental cleaning and disinfecting are important practices. They are covered in more detail in the Section 1 above.
Any scenario in which many people gather together poses a risk for COVID-19 transmission. While children generally experience mild symptoms with COVID-19 and, to date, have not been found to contribute substantially to the spread of the virus, transmission from even those with mild or no apparent symptoms remains a risk.
Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
- Fever (100.4 or higher) or chills
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- New loss of taste or smell
- Congestion or runny nose
- Cough
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Sore throat
- Headache
This list is not all possible symptoms. Other less common symptoms have been reported including nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. While symptoms in children are similar to adults, children may have milder symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, and cough. Children with COVID-19 may not initially present with fever and cough as often as adult patients.
BCSS has adopted the CDC Foundations “Framework for Adapting Guidelines for Unique Settings” in which to evaluate each situation with groups of people. The framework takes 7 characteristics and breaks it down to determine risk level and how to modify circumstances to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
- Movement
- Duration
- Proximity
- Group Size
- Respiratory Output
- Touch
- Congestion
Barrow County School System will operate under the spread level framework provided by the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Department of Public Health. The framework has three levels, tied to the degree of Covid-19 spread in the community: low, moderate or substantial.
Level 1
Low to No Community Spread
Level 2
Minimal to Moderate Community Spread
Level 3
Substantial Community Spread
At any given point, Barrow County as a whole will be at one of the three levels and will move up or down as directed by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as the spread of the virus changes.
However, this plan was modified with the release on July 13 from the Georgia Department of Education and Public Health. Now, school systems must determine which category they fall into for viral spread and take the corresponding steps and actions. The three categories are as follows:
- Green: preventative practices
- Yellow: enhanced mitigation measures
- Red: targeted closure(s)*
*Dec. 1 Update: When we developed our initial action plan in July, we planned to close school buildings if Barrow County was in the red/significant spread level for a sustained period of time (10+ consecutive days). We modified that original plan with a targeted approach to enable students to continue in-person learning, while also working to limit the spread of COVID-19. This modification was driven by the new guidance from the Georgia Department of Health and the Georgia Department of Education released on August 12, 2020.
Based on "Georgia's Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools," the Barrow County School System has developed conditional options for returning to school for 2020-21 and for remaining open throughout the year.
All parents, stakeholders, and staff should assume Barrow County is currently on Spread Level 2/moderate community spread and that we will hold school in-person on August 4 as originally planned.
The level of spread in the community will determine what in-person school looks like for students and staff.
- At the lowest level of Status Green Preventive Measures, which means no to low spread of COVID-19, school will look closer to traditional school with some degree of physical distancing and virus mitigation strategies present.
- At Status Yellow Enhanced Mitigation Measures with minimal to moderate spread of COVID-19, the system will engage more stringent viral mitigation and physical distancing practices, but otherwise continue in-person learning.
- On Status Red Targeted Closure(s)*, Barrow County Schools will work with Public Health Officials to determine which classrooms, bus routes, hallways or schools/facilities will need to be closed. Any closure will last at least 14 days and school officials will work with public health to determine an appropriate time to re-open.
*Dec. 1 Update: When we developed our initial action plan in July, we planned to close school buildings if Barrow County was in the red/significant spread level for a sustained period of time. We modified that original plan with a targeted approach to enable students to continue in-person learning, while also working to limit the spread of COVID-19. This modification was driven by the new guidance from the Georgia Department of Health and the Georgia Department of Education released on August 12, 2020.
Barrow County Virus Spread Level Determination
BCSS monitors data on a daily basis to determine the virus spread level specifically for Barrow County. Below, you can see where this information comes from and the key indicators. Please note that while spread level is an important factor in the decision to resume in-person learning, it is not the only factor.
Process
Each day about 3pm, we visit the Georgia Department of Health website, scroll down to the map titled “COVID-19 by County,” and click on Barrow County to see the rollover box with the most current information for that day.
We then record the data in our spreadsheet.*
In the Status column in our example spreadsheet above, you can see the color indicator of yellow. This represents spread level in Barrow County. Spread levels are based on the 14 day average of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 citizens. This number is obtained by dividing the Cases per 100K last two weeks by 14. The three-tiered model sets the following color categories:
- Green (low spread): Less than 10 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 citizens (14-day average)
- Yellow (moderate spread): Between 10 and 24.9 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 citizens (14-day average)
- Red (significant spread): Greater than or equal to 25 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 citizens (14-day average)
The below graphic explains how BCSS will operate based on spread level. This chart was first published on June 16, 2020, and this is the plan we are continuing to follow.* Please note that spread level is one factor as decisions are made when to resume school in-person.
*Dec. 1 Update: When we developed our initial action plan in July, we planned to close school buildings if Barrow County was in the red/significant spread level for a sustained period of time. We modified that original plan with a targeted approach to enable students to continue in-person learning, while also working to limit the spread of COVID-19. This modification was driven by the new guidance from the Georgia Department of Health and the Georgia Department of Education released on August 12, 2020.
Other things we monitor daily:
- The United States is currently the leading country in the world according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine data. Source
- Where the state of Georgia is currently in numbers of total cases according to CDC data. Source
- As of 8/11/2020, the daily average of new COVID-19 cases in Barrow County numbered 30 case(s) per 100,000 residents. In comparison, the daily average in Georgia was 32 case(s) per 100,000 and in the United States was 16 case(s) per 100,000. Source: Emory University Covid-19 Health Equity Report for Barrow County
*The DPH frequently adjusts the case data after initially reporting it. We utilize the data posted daily for consistency.
Current BCSS COVID-19 CASE DATA
The data below shows the total number of students and staff who are currently quarantined or isolated from work/school for one of the reasons defined below.
- Positive COVID-19 Test: Individual has received a positive COVID-19 result from a laboratory
- Direct Contact: Individual has made physical contact with, or been within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more, of an individual who has a lab confirmed positive COVID-19 test result or a suspected case
- Suspected COVID-19: Individual has a combination of common COVID-19 symptoms (for which there is no other diagnosis or known cause)
The specific amount of time the individual must quarantine is dependent on case circumstances. (Note: The DPH released new quarantine scenarios on 12.4.2020 that you can read about here.) Some cases may not be reflected in this information below depending on when we gathered the data. It will likely be reflected on the following week.
The cumulative staff total shows all cases since teachers returned to work on July 27.
COVID-19 Related Student Quarantines at Schools / Case Counts:
Numbers refer to new positive cases of COVID-19 for students, along with student quarantines related to direct contacts with someone with a positive or probable status, reported on the specified day. The amount of time any student has to quarantine varies based on context, so this is not a running count of students out due to COVID-19 quarantines on any given day.
If a confirmed COVID-19 case was reported on a specific date for your child’s school and you were not directly contacted by school personnel then your child was not identified as a close contact to a confirmed case.
To learn about how we notify families about suspected cases, see the FAQ section about in-person learning.
Local COVID-19 Resource
On Tuesday, August 18, Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow presented to the Barrow Chamber of Commerce about the local situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you to both organizations for allowing us to share this information with our BCSS families. Here is a segment of the overall program from that day that we think our families might find helpful and informative.
BCSS policies and procedures are intended to mitigate not eliminate risk. No single action or set of actions will completely eliminate risk of COVID-19 transmission, but implementation of several coordinated interventions can greatly reduce that risk.
Important Links
CDC resources
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.