Bleckley County Board of Education

242 E. Dykes Street MICHAEL SASSER, Chairman

www.bleckleyschools.org
Twitter: @bleckleyschools
P.O. Box 516 AMY WILLIAMS, Vice-Chair
SHANNA EVANS
Cochran, Georgia 31014-0516 DIANNE LESTER
478-934-2821 MELISSA STEWART
The Best Little School District in Georgia!™ DR. STEVE J. SMITH, Superintendent
DR. TREY BELFLOWER, Asst. Superintendent

August 18, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – CLARIFICATION OF EARLIER RELEASE

Bleckley County, GA – Last night, the Bleckley County Board of Education voted unanimously (Chairman
Mike Sasser was not present) to allow quarantined students and staff to return to school if: 1) they have not had
a recent positive test and do not have any COVID symptoms, 2) no one in the household is positive, and 3) they
wear a mask while inside any school building and on school buses. Any student or staff member who is
COVID positive must continue to isolate and may only return after the isolation period.

Superintendent Dr. Steve J. Smith stated, “While some may question the reasoning, we actually have seen many
students who were supposed to be quarantined walking and riding around town, continuing to socialize, and
completely ignoring the quarantine rules. We want them in school, but we also want to increase the safety of
those around them by requiring them to mask up. We agreed that if the number of positive cases within our
schools increase dramatically over the next two weeks, our next step is a system-wide mask mandate.”

The first day of school for Bleckley County Schools was August 6, and the system was aware of 29 students
who were positive at that time. One week later, the number of positive students was 30, and yesterday the
number was still 30. However, the number of quarantined students had grown from 68 on Day 1, to 107 last
Friday, and 151 yesterday. Under the new rule, most of those students would be allowed back in school today as
long as they meet the criteria established.

“Our community support has been tremendous, and our parents know we value the safety of our students and
staff. I personally believe the best defense against COVID is the vaccine, and while 53% of our staff members
have had at least one shot, I would prefer that be closer to 100%. I also realize that is a personal decision,
hopefully made between the person and his/her doctor,” stated Smith.

The board agreed to meet again in two weeks, either formally or via phone conference, to review the results and
modify the plans, if necessary.