Collierville HS suspends in-person learning
Collierville High School will be virtual-only for all students beginning Monday until Sept. 11, the school announced Friday.
Five cases of COVID-19 were reported to the school over the last week, the second week of class for students, the school announced.
“Due to the large number of students and faculty potentially exposed and quarantined by the Shelby County Health Department, Collierville High School will transition to its contingency plan of remote learning ...,” a school announcement said.
None of the other schools in the district are impacted by the change.
Students are expected to log on to class each day, Monday to Friday, per the announcement. The high school opened Aug. 17 on a hybrid schedule, where students attended classrooms twice a week and learned remotely the other three days.
All before-and-after school activities, including athletics, are canceled between Monday and Sept. 11.
Students will still have access to school meals. Families can schedule pick-up through an online form on the school’s website.
The school reported two new cases of COVID-19 among its varsity football team Wednesday. Those cases prompted the suspension of the team’s next two football games, the school announced at the time.
Those cancellations come less than a week after the school temporarily banned the media from its home opener against Briarcrest. That ban was lifted earlier this week.
No one missed the first day back in Collierville Schools due to being in isolation with COVID-19 or quarantined as a precaution after potential exposure,
Superintendent Gary Lilly said at the time. At the start of the school year, Collierville had reported three cases among athletes and one case in an employee, according to news reports.
Initially, Collierville planned to reopen with in-person instruction for each day of the week for all students. It had to transition the district to a hybrid schedule late in July to accommodate the six feet of social distancing recommended by the Shelby County Health Department. Originally, the district had made its plan around American Academy of Pediatrics guidance, which called for three feet of social distancing. Some parents protested in response.
About 36% of the district’s 9,000 students are virtual only, a population that increased after the district announced the move to the hybrid schedule. Because fewer students would be returning in person, the district had space to accommodate elementary school students in person five days each week, Lilly said.
“Due to the large number of students and faculty potentially exposed and quarantined by the Shelby County Health Department, Collierville High School will transition to its contingency plan of remote learning . ... ”
School announcement