Marietta City Schools will reopen some classrooms for its youngest students on Tuesday and hopes to expand to older students in October and November.
Returning on Sept. 8 will be prekindergarten through second-grade students and special needs students up to the fifth grade. Students will attend classes in person two days a week while students in grades three through 12 will continue with remote learning, Superintendent Dr. Grant Rivera said Thursday in an emailed message to parents.
Parents of students who prefer virtual learning will have the option to continue with that choice.
Marietta’s plan limits class sizes to 5-9 students to allow for social distancing. All students, staff and visitors will be required to wear face coverings while inside buildings, classrooms, and buses. The school will also conduct daily temperature checks for everyone.
The district will make exceptions to the mask rule for medical reasons, eating and drinking, outdoor activities and staff working in personal office spaces where social distancing can be maintained.
Rivera said that the district plans to begin the second phase of its reopening plan on Monday, Oct. 5, reopening classes to students in the third through the fifth grades and special needs students through 12th grade. Students will also be in class Monday through Thursday, with Friday reserved for teacher planning. On days when students are not in the building, they will follow their assigned virtual learning schedule.
Rivera said class sizes may be larger in the second phase, but that depends on the number of students who choose in-person learning. Teachers will reach out to parents Sept. 14-18 to determine if they prefer in-person classes or want to continue with remote learning.
Marietta schools will take other protective measures, such as installing partitions on desks, granting frequent outside breaks and adjusting HVAC equipment to provide greater ventilation. Also, staff will deliver meals to classrooms to reduce the amount of time students need to be in the hallways.
“We are doing the best we know how to do. I also understand, as a parent, you are doing the same,” Rivera said. “Together, we will push through this and stay resolved to the very best learning and safety for our children.”
The continued decline of COVID-19 cases could allow the system to expand in-person learning to its middle and high school students in early November, Rivera said Thursday.
Marietta schools has not identified a date for phase three of the reopening, but the district plans to offer in-person learning to middle and high school students one to two days a week. Rivera said in-person learning for this phase is “complicated and can’t be done with a quick flip of a switch.”
The district has to consider class schedules and hallway transitions, which makes it difficult for students to practice social distancing and for schools to limit student contact.
“We recognize, when it is safe to do such, that our older students benefit from in-person learning,” the superintendent said. “While virtual is a good substitute, it’s never as powerful as the real thing.”
As of Thursday, Cobb County had 17,375 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 397 deaths and 1,610 hospitalizations, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. In the last two weeks, the cases per 100,000 people was 234. Cobb & Douglas Public Health District Director Dr. Janet Memark has previously said anything more than 100 cases per 100,000 is considered a high rate of community spread.
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