Corinth County School District has sent 116 students home to quarantine for 14 days after six students and one staff member tested positive for coronavirus.
The district which only has 2700 students wrote that students at the high school, middle school, and elementary school have been infected.
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According to CNN, the school district told parents that it determined which students to quarantine through contact tracing. While in quarantine, children cannot attend school or any activities.
Classes in Corinth County resumed last week on July 27. Parents were offered the choice of traditional in-person attendance or virtual learning.
Students choosing the virtual option at the beginning of school had to notify the school by July 17, 2020. After that time, a student may enter or exit the virtual model only at the end of a nine-week period.
In a proposal prepared by the school district, they shared the benefits of both models.
Some of the benefits of in-person learning included coordinating face-to-face instruction and emotional support, while virtual featured distance learning and continued access to sports and extra-curricular activities.
Republican Mississippi governor, Tate Reeves, issued a mask mandate across the state which went into effect on Wednesday.
“I believe in my heart we have got to get our kids back in school,” Reeves said, “I believe it’s better, whenever possible, to allow local leaders to determine plans for their schools.”
“Are there risks?” Reeves said, according to Mississippi Today, “Sure there are. I’m aware of those risks and still believe this is the best decision for our state.”
Mississippi recently experienced a summer surge of COVID-19, it now has the fifth-highest recorded case count per 100,000 people behind Louisiana, Arizona, Florida, and New York.
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In issuing his state’s mask mandate, Reeves said, “I want to see college football. The best way for that to occur is for us all to realize is that wearing a mask, as irritating as that can be and I promise I hate it more than anyone watching, is critical.”
The governor pushed back opening for several counties that are “hotspots.” Corinth was not one of them.
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