March 24, 2020
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students:
We hope that you are safe and secure. Schools everywhere have closed not only for your safety, but also to prevent us from rapidly transmitting the virus to other members of our community.
One helpful way to stay occupied during this time is to visit our website, which provides numerous tools and activities to keep our students up-to-date with reading, math, test preparation, as well as our latest updates.
The Georgia Board of Education recently waived several requirements (i.e. state testing) for this school year, and they are continuing to look at ways to make adjustments as we go forward. We anticipate additional guidance from the state's boe later in the week. Governor Kemp is expected to address the status of "school closure" in the very near future.
Please check our school system's website for updates that will inform you of decisions as they become available.
Homeroom teachers from grades Pre-K through 8th grad will be reaching out to each student by phone very soon.Please know that you are in our prayers as we approach the coming weeks.
Glenn Tidwell
March 13, 2020
Dear Parents, Guardians, and other Marion County Stakeholders:
Although Marion County has no active cases of COVID-19, we have received guidance from the State of Georgia supporting us in closing our school system for several days to limit COVID-19 exposure and potential spread. This includes all school activities, both home and away, including evening meetings and sporting events. GHSA has stopped all athletic events for the next two weeks.
Dates of closure: March 16-20, after which we will re-evaluate and make further decisions (Expect notification late Thursday or early Friday as to whether we will close for additional time.)
This closure will give us time to reflect and re-evaluate, as well as time to thoroughly clean and sanitize often-used surfaces. Please refer to the Marion County Schools website for further information regarding the closure or any rescheduling of activities. We have streamlined information under a COVID-19 tab on the Marion County Schools website (www.marion.k12.ga.us). Please encourage your children to continue their learning as directed by any of their teachers and to read during this time. We recognize that there are limitations due to our rural location in regard to web-based activities.
In addition, we ask that you report all flulike symptoms to eaglehealth@marion.k12.ga.us to help us better assess and plan as we move forward.
Luckily, we have not had to close for weather like many other school systems in our area. This will afford us flexibility with our schedule. We are closing next week out of extreme caution. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your dedication to keeping our students and our community safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Glenn Tidwell, Superintendent
Posted March 11, 2020
Dear Marion County Students, Parents, Guardians, and Other Stakeholders:
Although there are no current cases of COVID-19 (also known as Coronavirus) in Marion County or the surrounding areas, I want to assure parents and the community that Marion County schools are taking sanitary precautions. In doing so, we hope to minimize the risk of spreading any infectious disease, including COVID-19.
Sanitation procedures will include—but are not limited to—disinfecting commonly-touched surfaces and providing hand sanitizer in classrooms and other areas of the building (office, cafeteria, etc.). Please encourage your children and teens to wash their hands often with soap and water, to cover their coughs and sneezes (with a tissue or into their elbow), to dispose of used tissue properly, and to wash their hands before eating. These guidelines will be reinforced in each school.
If you see that your child or teen is running fever, please keep them home from school until they have been fever-free for 24 hours. School nurses will be monitoring students for symptoms, including fever and coughing. We will evaluate each event as the need arises.
The main difference between COVID-19 and flu is the aches and pains that accompany the flu. The primary symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and diarrhea. If you or someone you know presents these symptoms, please contact your health care provider immediately.
Thank you for all you do to help keep our children safe. If you would like more information about COVID-19, please reference the information posted with this letter.
Sincerely,
Glenn Tidwell, Superintendent