Our goal is to have our students return to our schools as safely and as quickly as possible. Our phased approach focuses on welcoming students back for in-person learning based on the highest needs. Select special education students returned to our school campuses on Monday. Additional special education students will return on Monday, August 31.
BCSS is utilizing data from the Georgia Department of Public Health to track the virus spread level for Barrow County according to the Three-Tier Model. Read more about the data.
We continue to monitor our local community spread level daily. Since we originally shared this plan on August 18, Barrow County has been teetering between red/significant virus spread and moderate/yellow spread levels, as you can see in the graph below.
We are hopeful that Barrow will stabilize in the yellow/moderate spread zone. If that happens, we are looking to accelerate the return of students to in-person learning to September 8th for all students who originally chose in-person on an A/B cohort schedule.
Accelerated Phased Plan to Resume In-Person Learning
View a PDF of the chart above or view in Spanish.
*Return dates for full in-person classes will be predicated on COVID-19 conditions and related data. Barrow County will need to be in the Yellow Zone (Between 10 and 24.9 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 citizens on the 14-day average) in order to begin this phase in.
** MIID-Mild Intellectual Disability; MOID- Moderate Intellectual Disability; SID/PID-Severe or Profound Intellectual Disability; BASE-A- Barrow Autism Spectrum Exceptionalities/Adapted Curriculum | For questions, please review our FAQs for Parents Regarding Phased Reopening Plan for Special Education Students or contact our Special Education Team.
A/B Schedule
Classes will be divided into two cohort groups - A and B. Students will remain in the same cohort throughout. This will help to limit the number of students in a classroom during each day, while enabling students to resume in-person learning part-time.
- Cohort A will attend school in-person on Monday and Tuesday.
- Cohort B will attend school in-person on Thursday and Friday.
- Students will continue Distance Learning at home three days a week when they are not on campus.
A/B scheduling will be divided by families across the district. We are finalizing details now for student cohorts, and schools will be sharing that with families as soon as possible.
View a PDF of the cohort chart above or view in Spanish.
Please note that Distance Learning will continue full-time for the cohort of students who originally enrolled in the Distance Learning Program. Students will remain in Distance Learning until the previously identified transition time.
Due to the increasing scientific evidence, masks will be required to be worn by all students and staff when in-person learning resumes. This includes on buses, in common areas of schools, and in classrooms.
Periodic mask breaks may be coordinated by teachers for their students in a safe, physically distanced manner.
Students and staff with documented medical conditions that prevent the ability to wear a mask should speak with their school administration.
