As State COVID Guidance For Schools Relaxes, Cobb Schools Eases Its COVID Protocols, Too

COBB COUNTY, GA — The Cobb County School District no longer traces all suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases, and teachers who have been exposed to COVID-19 but are asymptomatic will immediately return to work — they'll just have to wear a mask.

That's according to the most updated COVID-19 protocols released Thursday by Cobb Schools officials, just after Gov. Brian Kemp and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, penned a letter to school leaders relaxing the state's guidance for quarantining and contract tracing.

"Like you, our chief goal is to keep our kids in the classroom with minimal disruption to their education, and we will continue to support you, your faculty, your students and your parents in carrying out this mission," the letter reads.

(1/3) As we head into the second semester of the 2021-2022 school year, the life-saving vaccine, along with common-sense health and safety measures, will help us overcome the rise in COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant. pic.twitter.com/Qv65NxGFHn
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) January 6, 2022

According to the new state rules, asymptomatic teachers and staff can keep working after exposure to COVID-19 regardless of vaccination status, but they have to wear a mask for 10 days. The same rule is now implemented in CCSD.

Additionally, contact tracing is now optional, not required, at Georgia school districts. CCSD officials elected to discontinue contact tracing all suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases, but will make a decision on a case-by-case basis to contact trace.

"It will greatly assist us in maintaining all our classrooms being open," Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said at a Cobb school board meeting Thursday. Cobb students returned to the classroom in person the day before.

"We continue to encourage families to make health decisions which are best for their families and to not send students to school sick," district officials said in the new protocols.

New CCSD quarantine rules also say asymptomatic students who were exposed at at school setting can return to class immediately if the parent chooses, but must wear a mask for an additional seven days after exposure. Symptomatic students must follow state isolation guidelines.

Face coverings for students and staff remain optional, but "strongly encouraged." The Cobb COVID-19 website will still be updated each Friday with positive/active COVID-19 cases.

In Kemp and Toomey's letter, they announced that the state DPH is offering a COVID-19 testing program at no cost to schools or teachers. Districts can offer COVID-19 testing on-site for symptomatic and asymptomatic students, staff, faculty and their family members.

The family members addition is new, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Read more: Cobb Schools To Resume In Person This Week As COVID Cases Rise