The health and safety of the staff and students in our schools are our top priority. Our schools have taken the necessary precautions provided by the CDC and health professionals to create a safe learning environment for our school family to start a new school year.
Hamilton County Schools wants to be as transparent as possible with the public about what is happening in our schools, so we’ve created a COVID-19 Reporting Dashboard that you can find on our website.
The page includes the number of active confirmed COVID-19 cases and exposures impacting individuals in our district, as well as the percentage of positive cases for employees by month, and similar information for students will be added soon.
The district has been tracking employee COVID-19 data since March 16, 2020. Student data tracking began on August 12, 2020. The district’s rate of positive cases mirrors the positivity rate for Hamilton County as a whole.
The dashboard webpage has embedded real-time reporting using Google Data Studio. The information will immediately update as it is recorded in the district’s data system by HCS personnel. We are working to integrate similar real-time reporting for student data, and we will embed the real-time reporting student dashboard in the coming days.
The webpage will also report campuses closed for that day due to the COVID-19 response. On Thursday, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences (CSAS) and Loftis Middle were closed for cleaning and contacting tracing due to positive confirmed cases reported in those school communities. Today, Barger Academy and Lookout Valley Middle/High will also be closed for cleaning and contact tracing.
All four facilities will be cleaned and disinfected as a safety precaution. Barger, CSAS, Loftis, and Lookout Valley will open again on Monday on the regular schedule planned for the week.
The HCS SAFE Pledge will help us to keep our children safe. The “S” in SAFE stands for stay at home when you or your child is sick. It is crucial for the health and safety of others that children and staff do not come to school or for parents or visitors to visit the school if you are sick or have felt a need to take a COVID-19 test for which you have not received results.
Moreover, no one should come to school if you have been in close contact with someone with a confirmed COVID-19 positive test result. Thank you for taking the SAFE Pledge and helping us keep our children and staff healthy.
Over the first two days of school, students and staff have done an excellent job of following CDC guidelines by wearing masks, socially distancing in the school, and washing hands regularly. All of these guidelines are designed to keep our children and staff safe in all situations. We thank parents for stressing the importance of these safety precautions with children.
For more information about our Health and Safety plan, please see our HCS School Reopening FAQs and our HCS Reentry and Continuous Learning Plan.
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