COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) - The Muscogee County School District hosted a back-to-school virtual town hall meeting on Monday to discuss their reopening plan for the 2021-2022 school year.
Members of the administration were joined by a local medical panel-- including health professionals from the Department of Public Health, Piedmont, and Rivertown Pediatrics. The school district shared their COVID-19 mitigation strategies via a presentation, which outlined the protocol for returning to classrooms in August. Hundreds of parents and stakeholders joined in on the discussion, many raising questions about the safety of their children.
All Muscogee County School District students will be returning to in-person instruction this fall. High-risk students or students physically unable to return to school will have the option of using Hospital/Homebound services, but their medical or psychiatric symptoms must be certified by a licensed physician.
The school district announced that masks will be optional for students at school, though the medical panel strongly recommended that unvaccinated students continue to wear them. However, students riding MCSD buses to school will need to make sure they have a mask on hand, as they will be required per federal mandate.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated their COVID-19 recommendations for schools, saying all school staff and students over two years old should wear face masks at school. However, CDC guidelines say that fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or social distancing.
The return to school comes as there are continued concerns about variants that are more easily spread among children, adolescents and adults. Though the Muscogee County School District says masks are optional right now, they are reserving the right to reinstate mandatory masking in either the entire district or in select schools as conditions change throughout the school year.
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