CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County schools will start the new semester virtually as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Students will complete their school work from home from Wed., Jan. 5, 2022, until Fri., Jan. 7, 2022.
The announcement came right before the New Years holiday weekend.
“I feel like I'm a better learner inside the building, but knowing its asynchronous made me feel a little bit better and just the fact that there's just three days," said Judah Whaley, a Clayton County 8th grader.
The asynchronous learning allows some flexibility, with assignments given to be done on the students’ own time.
“You have to apply yourself 100% to to be able to do it independently," said Whaley. "I know that they're trying to take some heavier precautions since COVID has of jumped a little bit over the holiday season."
That’s putting it mildly. On Thursday, the state of Georgia set a new single-day record for new COVID cases since the start of the pandemic.
Clayton County has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the latest surge is no exception -- setting a new case record almost every day this week.
At the end of December, Clayton also had the highest average positivity rate in the metro, with 43% of all tests coming back as positive cases.
The CDC wants to see that number below 5%.
“They're taking precautions, so I know we're going to be back to normal soon to receive my education, which is a right to me," Whaley added. "The world as a whole can be resilient to COVID. When you get out of your comfort zone, you lean how to adapt.”
Meanwhile, Clayton County employees are also being asked to work remotely all next week.
CCPS employees will work remotely from Jan. 3 to Jan. 7. Staff and students are expected to report to work and school in a face-to-face environment on Jan. 10, 2022.
Employees involved in district operations/logistics (transportation, nutrition, and school nurses, etc.) are asked to contact their direct supervisor regarding reporting expectations.