Clayton County Superintendent Morcease Beasley pleaded with residents Wednesday to get vaccinated and to keep their children at home if they are sick.
The south metro Atlanta district has seen a rash of positive COVID-19 cases in schools since classes began earlier this month, and has had to temporarily revert to remote learning in six buildings.
The most recent pivot to a virtual school day came Wednesday when the district announced Kay Pace Elementary School of the Arts in Jonesboro would go virtual beginning Thursday. Students will return to the building Sept. 2.
“Parents, I want to encourage you, please do not send children to school who are sick and ill,” Beasley said during a Wednesday YouTube Live update of district operations. “We want to do our part to minimize the spread of this virus.”
Beasley’s plea comes as schools across metro Atlanta have seen thousands of students and staff come down with the virus or be quarantined because of contact with an infected person, especially as the more infectious delta variant has ravaged the state.
The increases have happened despite mask mandates adopted by many of the school systems and safety measures put in place to minimize infections, like using Plexiglass in classes to separate students.
Clayton County has some of the lowest vaccinations rates in metro Atlanta. Students younger than 12 are not yet eligible for inoculation.
“We are noticing that most of our situation in which we are quarantining are among those who are not vaccinated,” he said. “Our children are getting the virus from those persons who are not vaccinated.”
Remote learning is not the only change resulting from the increase in COVID-19 cases.
Clayton on Wednesday said it would limit stadium capacity to 50% during football season, which kicks off Friday. A national disruption in the supply of breakfasts and lunches to schools also has forced the district to offer only one entree option during the day.
While Beasley said he did not expect the district to return to full virtual learning for all schools, he said the community must come together to bring the virus numbers down.
“I’ve had many people say, ‘When are we going to move the whole district to virtual learning,’” he said. “We are not there.
“We need all of you to do your part” to keep the school system safe, he said.
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