Franklin County students will attend school Monday through Wednesday of next week and be out for student holidays March 19-20.
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Franklin County students will attend school Monday through Wednesday of next week and be out for student holidays March 19-20.
CARNESVILLE - The Franklin County School System will remain open next week.
The Franklin County Board of Education held an emergency called meeting Friday morning to discuss Gov. Brian Kemp’s Thursday announcement about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
During a press conference, Kemp issued a “call to action” to school systems to consider closing schools but said the governor’s office believes in local control for all systems when it comes to making the best decisions for their communities and would support decisions to stay open or close.
Franklin County students will attend school Monday through Wednesday of next week and be out for student holidays March 19-20.
Franklin County Schools Superintendent Chris Forrer told the board he tells every leader in the district that anyone can make decisions when things are black and white, but he is paying them to make decisions in the gray.
“Our first priority is doing what’s best for the kids and keeping our students safe,” Forrer said. “We are going to outline the logic behind our decision.”
Forrer went on to say that there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 within 50 miles of Franklin County.
“There is no imminent danger right now,” Forrer said. “I’m aware of what is being said on Facebook. I have talked to the Department of Public Health and there are no cases in Lavonia or within 50 miles of us. It hasn’t hit our area yet.”
He also said that he knew staying open wasn’t the popular choice or what the majority of school systems were doing.
“Today, students will leave school with five days of work they can do if we end up closing,” Forrer said. “We are prepared to shut down at a moment’s notice, but right now, we feel the risks of having students at home unsupervised and not giving parents adequate time to prepare are higher. We want to give parents time to prepare for having their children at home by staying open next week. We are concerned about our students who would be home unsupervised or may struggle with meals while school is out.”
If the school system closes, food service will not be discontinued.
The system is working out the details for continuing to provide meals to students if a shutdown occurs.
One way is to allow parents to drive through a line at their child’s school and pick up food and the other is to go to high density areas, like housing projects, and distribute food.
“Beginning Monday, field trips, extracurricular activities and athletic competitions and all out-of-district travel will be suspended,” Forrer said. “The political forum is going to be postponed as well.”
The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has already shut down all championships.
All sports, technology and agriculture competitions have also been suspended.
“Our thought is if we close on Monday, we will be coming back in two weeks and it may be worse then,” Forrer said. “If we finish out next week, we could be closed for three and a half consecutive weeks off. This isn’t factoring into our decision, but we have thought about how this could benefit our students.”
Forrer added that the system has an electrostatic machine that creates a fog of antiviral cleaner so that school areas can be as clean as possible.
“We understand that some parents may not feel comfortable sending their children to school so we will excuse any absences,” Forrer said.
To get an absence excused, parents just need to provide a note upon their children’s return to school.
“We are always going to put the safety of our kids first,” Forrer said. “We feel like it’s not an if the virus gets here, but a when the virus gets here. We don’t have the same digital capabilities as some of the other systems that have closed so that’s not an option for us.”
If anyone would like to participate in ensuring students receive meals if schools close, they are asked to contact their local school so they can be put into contact with the necessary personnel.
“We are planning to be open Monday. If the threat increases, we have plans in place that will allow us to close,” Forrer said. “We are going to continue to monitor the situation.”