Terrell County School System announces start date after Labor Day

(DAWSON, GA) – As school systems across the state prepare to welcome back students to in-person classes, as well as virtually in the first week of august, the Terrell County School System will stay empty, and won’t start until after Labor Day.

“We are hoping that by delaying, it’ll do a couple of things. One of which we hope is to flatten the curve. The other is with virtual learning, this is our first year doing this. And we’re hoping with the additional time, that we can work with the development of our teachers,” says Terrell County Superintendent, Douglas Bell.

According to the Department of Public Health, Terrell County at this time has more than 260 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Bell and the school system have decided that the more than 1,100 students will be split up into green and gold teams, making sure to minimize contact throughout the week.

Bell tells us, “We are planning on bringing the kids in at 50% capacity. So we’ll have in-person instruction Monday through Thursday, and everyone will be virtual on Fridays. So those students on the green team are coming in Monday and Wednesday, and on Tuesday they’ll be virtual learning.”

With the extra few weeks of planning, the school system is also going to make sure that they can try to quell any apprehension students may have about the massive shift in Terrell County.

“We can hopefully be able to entertain their fears and concerns and open up a bridge-way so that if there are issues that we need to know that’s going on outside the school system, we can know those kinds of things,” says Bell.

Now that they’re no longer up against a rapidly approaching school year, the Terrell County School System is going to make sure that students are not only getting back into class, but get a better understanding of the pandemic.

For more information about the Terrell County School System’s restarting plan, you can visit the school system’s website.