A 1% threshold in new COVID-19 cases within the district puts the Polk School District back to requiring students to follow certain guidelines to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to their latest posting on social media.

The district now has 120 cases reported as of their latest report this afternoon of totals, out of 8,572 students and staff across the 11 campuses in Polk County.

Mitigation efforts were detailed in the following post from the PSD, which includes but aren’t limited to limiting the amount of time students interact with others and shutting down common areas which could help spread the virus, like water fountains.

The two-week number of new cases in Polk County has shot up to 282 as of Wednesday’s update from the Georgia Department of Public Health, bringing the total number of PCR test results for COVID upward past 4,300 positives.

Here’s the full posting from the PSD:

On Wednesday, August 18, 2021, Polk School District surpassed the one-percent positivity rate threshold of COVID-19 cases. As such, ALL schools will begin the implementation of mitigation strategies including, but not limited to the following:

-eating in classrooms

-limited visitors

-water fountains disabled

-checking temperatures

-monitoring symptoms

-masks required for unvaccinated staff/strongly encouraged for ALL students and staff.

Additionally, in an effort to best serve the various needs of our students and families, beginning Thursday, August 19, 2021, Polk School District will offer a Virtual Academy option for those eligible.

Please see the attached (above) letter for more information and the link provided for the Virtual Academy application. We will accept applications through Sunday, August 29. Further, you can find more information and answers to frequently asked questions on our website under the Polk Virtual Academy tab.

Polk School District will continue to monitor new and existing COVID-19 cases reported in our schools by parents, staff members, and/or the Department of Health (DPH) and continue to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment for our students. Data is posted daily on our website under the COVID-19 tab. We ask that all of our stakeholders do their part by not sending students to school when they are symptomatic.

For attendance purposes, we will accept parent notes related to COVID-19 absences and students will not be penalized related to truancy/attendance appeals. Thank you for continuing to partner with us in these efforts.