Online Only For Barrow After 90+ Quarantine Due To Coronavirus

WINDER, GA — After more than 90 employees had to quarantine because of COVID-19, the Barrow County School System announced Wednesday night it would start the year online only.

"Although the district had planned to begin with both in-person and distance learning, the current COVID-19 situation required a change in those plans," officials said in a statement posted to the Barrow County School System's website.

“We made a very difficult decision based on the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in our county, as well as the concerns over being able to appropriately staff our schools.” Superintendent Dr. Chris McMichael said in the statement. “If today was the first day of school, we would have been hard-pressed to have sufficient staff available to open our schools.”

According to the statement, more than 90 school system employees had to quarantine “due to a confirmed case of COVID-19, a suspected case, or direct contact with a confirmed case” even before students had returned to class.

“We understand the difficulties that 100-percent online learning will cause for families,” McMichael wrote. “We are focused on providing the best instruction possible for our students.”

More information will be released on Friday. School is scheduled to begin on Aug. 17.

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