Mask policies change in some Columbus area school districts as new semester starts
The Muscogee County School District is scheduled to announce Friday whether it will allow masks to be optional in its buildings, but superintendent David Lewis took the suspense away Monday night when he spoke about the pending COVID-19 protocols change.
Expect the school district to keep its mandatory mask policy, Lewis told the MCSD board at the end of its monthly work session.
“Given the cases we’re seeing right now, the surge, it’s pretty clear and apparent that we’ve got to maintain (mandatory masks),” he said.
In October, the Harris County School District changed its mandatory mask policy to optional, citing low levels of COVID cases. When the new semester started Jan. 3, masks continued to be optional for students but required for adults. The Ledger-Enquirer has asked HCSD’s spokeswoman to explain why the new policy treats students and adults differently. This story will be updated when that answer is received.
Masks still are required in the Chattahoochee County School District.
Phenix City Schools on Dec. 8 implemented a new mask policy that allowed each school or office building to make masks optional if two conditions are met:
- A 10-day positive COVID testing rate of less than 1%.
- A weekly average daily attendance of at least 92%.
All but one of the district’s 15 sites, Westview Elementary School, met that criteria.
But when the new semester started Jan. 6, PCS returned to mandatory masks because of a “significant increase in COVID cases,” superintendent Randy Wilkes said in his Jan. 3 letter to parents.
The new PCS mask mandate originally was set through Jan. 14, but Wilkes has extended it through Jan. 21.
Masks are required in Russell County School District buildings.
Lee County Schools superintendent Mac McCoy didn’t reply to the Ledger-Enquirer’s query before publication.
Masks remain required for everyone in the United States on buses, per the federal order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other changes
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Department of Public Health commissioner Kathleen Toomey announced last week school employees no longer are required to quarantine after exposure to someone infected with the coronavirus, even if they are unvaccinated or test positive, as long as they wear a mask and don’t develop symptoms.
Kemp and Toomey also announced schools no longer must conduct contact tracing, which required notifying employees and parents of students exposed to someone infected with COVID that they should quarantine.
School district officials in Muscogee, Harris and Chattahoochee counties told the Ledger-Enquirer they have changed their COVID protocols to comply with the state’s new guidelines.
“In accordance with the new guidance provided in the administrative order and supported by our local medical panel, MCSD employees may continue to work as long as they are not symptomatic, wear masks while on duty and comply with all other health and safety protocols during the 10-day period.,” MCSD superintendent David Lewis told the L-E in an email. “Students and staff who test positive are asked to isolate per the current CDC guidance.”
Shelia Baker, the Harris County assistant superintendent for student services, told the L-E in an email, all HCSD employees who have close contact with someone infected with COVID, “whether vaccinated or not, and asymptomatic (having no symptoms and no fever without medication for 24 hours) may continue to work if they wear masks and follow safety steps in place.”
ChattCo superintendent Kristie Brooks said her district would follow the state’s updated guidance.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
