Floyd, Rome schools start the year cautiously as COVID cases increase
As the new BA.5 COVID-19 variant becomes the dominant strain in the United States, Rome City Schools and Floyd County Schools reevaluate their covid guidelines for the upcoming school year.
Floyd County Schools Superintendent Glenn White said currently the school system does not have a mask mandate or quarantine mandate in place for the 20222023 school year.
Meanwhile, Rome City Schools Interim Superintendent Dawn Williams said the school system will follow CDC guidelines at the beginning of the school year, which starts on July 29.
White further expanded by saying students who test positive should follow their physician’s care and procedures.
He added, if covid numbers increase to where there were during the Omicron variant spike at the end of 2021, the school system will resume similar covid procedures from the 2021-2022 school year.
Last year’s procedures included a mask mandate for schools that had 2% of the student body test positive for covid and the school would shut down for five days if 5% of the student body tests positive.
On the other hand, the CDC website states there’s a high risk of COVID-19 transmission in Floyd County. Therefore, Rome City Schools will follow their suggestion of getting positive students to quarantine for at least five days.
Although the CDC is currently advising Floyd County residents to wear a mask indoors, Williams stated because of legislation, a mask mandate could not be enforced for all students due to Governor Brian Kemp’s opt out mask legislation that was signed into law in March of this year and will be effective until June 2023.
Similar to Floyd County Schools, Williams said they will reevaluate the number of cases once school begins and implement guidelines to last year’s 2021-2022 covid policy.
This policy required schools that had 1% of its population that tested positive with covid