Two Alabama schools will begin the school year with online courses after an employee affiliated with both schools tested positive for COVID-19 days before in-person instruction began Wednesday.
More than 1,200 students at Moulton Middle School and Moulton Elementary School in Lawrence County are moving to a final adjustment to online classes after the positive test result. Both schools in Facebook posts said the online instruction is expected to last until August 26, two weeks.
Both of the schools said they consulted with the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama State Department of Education and the Alabama State Superintendent in making the decision. The 12 other Lawrence County schools will reopen on Wednesday, reopening. according to The Associated Press.
School officials said in Facebook messages that they were informed Tuesday afternoon about the employee’s positive test and ‘started working immediately to determine who had been in close contact with that employee.’
Superintendent Jon Bret Smith told the Decatur Daily that the school informed 10 people who were in contact with the employee, who are now required to make a quarantine for two weeks.
“Since these individuals must be quarantined and unable to work, we do not have an adequate staff to offer traditional schooling until August 26,” read the schools’ Facebook messages.
The school said the employee was not at work Tuesday when some orientations were held.
In an earlier statement, who said “unforeseen circumstances” caused the school to move to online for two weeks, school officials said students could pick up Chromebooks to use for online learning during free time slots.
The last-minute temporary move to online classes comes as schools across the nation try to decide whether to go back to personal instruction and balance that with safety amidst the pandemic. Several schools, including in Georgia and Mississippi, are closing as required students to quarantine after positive cases appear.
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