Remote learning will continue after Labor Day for some Fulton County School students because of an increase in positive COVID-19 cases. | Shutterstock
Remote learning will continue after Labor Day for some Fulton County School students because of an increase in positive COVID-19 cases. | Shutterstock
Remote learning will continue after Labor Day for some Fulton County School students because of an increase in positive COVID-19 cases, according to social media announcements by the school district.
Sandtown Middle School and Crabapple Middle School sixth-graders began remote learning on Sept. 1 and will continue well past the Labor Day weekend, according to separate Facebook posts.
Both posts referred to "a high volume of positive cases and direct contacts and having met the criteria of a Level 2" and that "Individuals who will be required to quarantine for longer will be notified directly."
"We anticipate the resumption of face-to-face instruction for the sixth grade on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021," both posts concluded. "If circumstances dictate additional steps, we will notify the school community immediately."
The posts came the day after Fulton County Schools announced that Ocee Elementary School first-graders would be remote learning Aug. 31 through Sept. 3. In the announcement the school district said the first-graders would resume in-person learning on Sept. 7, the day after Labor Day.
The Ocee Elementary remote learning announcement followed a news conference on Aug. 31 by Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey, who said Georgia lags behind other states in tackling the the now ongoing Delta variant surge. She said that about all cases the Delta variant of COVID make up the worst cases and hospitalizations reported since January and that about half in Georgia can be linked to the state's K-12 schools.
"We've seen, however, the highest number of weekly outbreaks since the pandemic began, 170 outbreaks statewide with more than half of these outbreaks in K-12 schools," Toomey said.
Fulton County Schools has abandoned plans for a mask-optional learning hub after few families expressed interest, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Sept. 1.
On Aug. 24, Gov. Brian Kemp announced deployment of more than 105 National Guard personnel to hospitals throughout the state.
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