How will re-entry look for the public school system?
That’s the $64,000 question parents and teachers hope to have answered Thursday night as the system is expected to decide on a re-entry plan.
Two weeks ago The Leader published a discussion with superintendent Dr. John Combs in which several factors of re-entry were discussed.
Four days later Gov. Bill Lee extended the state of emergency to Aug. 29, several weeks after school was scheduled to begin, and that changed the system’s plans. The number of active cases is also a concern.
“We thought we had a good plan figured out, then numbers exploded, as [Tipton County Emergency Management Agency Director] Tommy Dunavant put it,” Combs said last month.
Tipton County recorded its sixth COVID-19-related death over the weekend.
On Wednesday, the number of total confirmed cases had grown to 662, an average of 6.4 new cases per day.
The total number of active cases was 158. The number of tests conducted is now 9,100, which suggests 15.8 percent of Tipton Countians have been tested, but the number doesn’t specify how many of those tests are subsequent tests done.
Parker Harris, the administrator of Baptist-Tipton, said the hospital is seeing three to four new positive cases per day where it once saw three to four per week.
“And we just do a fraction of the testing here now because clinics are able to do it and it’s free at the health department.”
There were three COVID hospitalizations Wednesday afternoon, which, he says is about average.
Additionally, on Wednesday the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association decided to table a vote on football season, a move which angered many fans, players and coaches.
The meeting, which will be live-streamed on the system’s YouTube channel to comply with social distancing recommendations, takes place at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Author: Echo Day
Echo Day is an award-winning journalist, photographer and designer. She is currently The Leader's managing editor.
