Dear Parents,

On behalf of the Superintendent, please be advised that we are aware of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance to schools to prepare contingency plans for the coronavirus-borne disease COVID-19.

Our School District works closely with the Georgia Department of Public Health and local public safety officials whenever there is a public health or safety concern affecting any of our schools.  Our custodial provider is equally dedicated to keeping our schools clean and our children safe with numerous industry best practices in place.

What can you do as a parent?  You can reinforce with your children the importance of every-day good health habits to avoid illnesses including: frequently washing your hands; using a tissue when you sneeze or cough and then throwing it away; keeping your fingers out of your eyes, nose and mouth; not sharing water bottles or similar containers; and staying home when sick.  When children have a fever, they need to stay home from school and be fever free, without the aid of fever-reducing medication, for at least 24 hours before returning to school.

In the event we were to need to close schools, for any reason, our Canvas online learning management system, which our students and teachers have tested for the past year, allows for teaching and learning to continue in these situations.  As we have previously announced, we will be using Canvas on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 for a Digital Learning Day; our schools will be closed that day for safety concerns, as many will be used for Presidential Primary election polling sites.  Canvas is a type of “teleschool” option that CDC officials suggested school systems have in place as a contingency plan.

For more information, please visit the Georgia Department of Health’s website at https://dph.georgia.gov/

Barbara P. Jacoby
Chief Communications Officer
Cherokee County School District