Barrow County School System: Temporary Mask Requirement Update

Press release from the Barrow County School System:

September 21, 2021

Starting on September 1, the school system implemented a temporary mask requirement to keep students in school where they learn best.

In the past two weeks, we have seen a drop in positive COVID-19 cases for students and - vitally important for student success and participation - a significant reduction in at-home quarantines. We had over 4,000 students miss school in August due to a quarantine. With the mask requirement, less than 50 students have been required to quarantine at home from a close contact at school.

When students wear masks, they can keep learning in school. Without masks, significantly more students are required to stay at home due to a quarantine. This means students must proactively manage their learning at home and that parents must provide childcare, which is often challenging to arrange due to work requirements.

Fall break is October 4-8. We anticipate reassessing the need for a district-wide mask requirement during the week of October 10. Hopefully, our situation will continue to improve between now and then.

Thank you for the support of our parents, students, families, and staff. It is challenging to constantly be pivoting and requiring changes, often with short notice. Our never-ending commitment to providing the best education and learning opportunities available to our students comes only second to ensuring a safe environment for our students and staff.

Thank you,
Barrow County School System

This press release was produced by the Barrow County School System. The views expressed here are the author’s own.