Due to the pandemic, the back to school process required delicate thinking through that later on led to most high schools in Georgia deciding to implement the option of in-person learning or virtual learning. Both Cherokee and Cobb County schools had those options but Cherokee County resumed in-person learning far earlier than other counties in the area and Cobb decided to move to completely virtual before the assigned resumption date. The immense number of students and teachers at some Cherokee high schools that chose the option of learning in person led to the COVID spread that ushered the temporary school closures; masks were not mandatory for students and teachers, so their attempt to resume did not work out seeing that many of their school were temporarily closed.

“They had almost sixty positive cases in two-three weeks which led to a mandatory two weeks quarantine for almost a thousand students and staff. Students will stay home from school until the scheduled reopening, we will deep clean the buildings and remote learning through canvas learning system,” the school district superintendent Dr. Brian Hightower said in a message online.     

The projection in infections caused the mandatory quarantine action to the students and or teachers that may have gotten exposed to the virus. While many of the schools transferred to virtual learning completely, after Labor Day, many returned to the hybrid model.

“We understand that these closings are disappointing to students who want to learn in person and their parents but these are safety measures to avoid potential spread within our schools,” Cherokee County officials, County manager Jerry Cooper, County Attorney Angie Davis and County Clerk Christy Black said.

“I think Cobb County’s decision to move to completely virtual [schooling] is a smart move. It is better than sending almost a thousand kids back to school knowing the virus is still out there” NC junior Marissa Amorose said. Cobb County schools have announced now their process of transitioning back to in-person learning in October and November with the option of virtual learning still available and after implementing serious safety precautions such as making masks a requirement for teachers and students who decide to partake in in-person learning and weekly deep cleans of the campuses.