Learning Way Elementary opened back up Monday after shifting to virtual learning from January 19-21 due to many students and staff quarantined or in isolation with COVID.
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Learning Way Elementary opened back up Monday after shifting to virtual learning from January 19-21 due to many students and staff quarantined or in isolation with COVID.
According to Bedford County Schools Communications Coordinator Carol Garrette, the numbers at Learning Way have improved with 6 staff and 20 students out for Covid, whether positive or quarantined, as of Tuesday.
It was three times that many staff and 30 students on Tuesday, Jan. 18, the day the school went to virtual learning, Garrette said. That morning Learning Way needed 21 substitute teachers and zero were available. “Operations were highly impacted by this staff shortage,” Garrette said.
System-wide numbers are beginning to look better overall this week, according to BCS School Nurse Supervisor Dee Crabtree.
"Things seem to be levelling off this week, especially for Learning Way Elementary and other schools in town," she said.
Garrette said there are no specific concerns for the upcoming week as students and staff return.
“But we will continue to do all that we can as a system to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We remind students and staff to be diligent in handwashing and hand-sanitizing. Masks are available at school and on all buses for any students and staff that wish to use these,” Garrette said.
Garrette said BCS Custodial Manager Aaron Frost has been working with his team to monitor numbers every day to prioritize schools that are “hot-spots relative to COVID numbers and related absences,” according to Garrette.
Garrette said their custodial teams focus on cleaning high touchpoints daily, while one or two schools are treated with ionizing sprayers nightly. “Learning Way Elementary was cleaned last week while the school was virtual, and it was ionized this week as well with all horizontal and vertical surfaces receiving proper dwell time of the ionizing sprays,” Garrette said.
Schools have also seen other illnesses such as flu, strep, and stomach virus as well. As always, if you are experiencing any symptoms, schools ask that you stay home.
Remote learning is still available for students so that interruption to learning is minimized. You can find more information at on the Bedford County School’s website, under the ‘Quarantined Remote Learning’ page.
