HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia's COVID-19 numbers are creeping up once again. On Tuesday, the average positivity rate hit 8.9%, which is up 2% from just one month ago.
Public health officials want that number to stay below 5% to slow the spread of the virus. Those numbers made the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend all students and staff wear masks in schools, regardless of vaccination status.
Despite the CDC's new guidance, school districts including Cobb County, Marietta City Schools, and Henry County are standing their ground.
"As a school system that offered in-person learning for more than 75% of the year last year, we really exercised this muscle of identifying proven mitigation techniques and designing a transparent, quick acting COVID-19 response approach," said Henry County Schools superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis.
Davis said its low COVID-19 cases during its summer programs signaled that it could keep its optional mask policy in place.
"We really leaned in our summer programming," said Davis. "We had six weeks of vibrant, summer learning happening on our school campuses. 4,000 students were served, 600 employees provided different services including instruction and on top of that we had nearly 4,000 young people on campuses for athletics or youth camps. 8,600 people on-campus, 6 weeks, we had a total of three positive cases."
She said about 60% of Henry County teachers have shown an interest in the vaccine.
"I really think the key is the monitoring of substantial spread," she added. "We are carrying those lessons that we've learned and that muscle we have built to do that well into the start of the school year."
Meanwhile, hours after the CDC's announcement, the state's biggest school district, Gwinnett County, said it is making masks mandatory. The decision has the community talking.
Shantell Witter, who is a substitute teacher for the district, said she is relieved the district is making masks mandatory.
"I applaud them for making that decision to put safety first," Witter said. "In order to keep Gwinnett County schools open and keep in-person as an option, we have to keep in mind first and foremost that our educators, staff, everyone who makes the school's ecosystem, need to be safe."
She said she's asthmatic and has been taking care of her grandmother who just finished chemotherapy; she has had to stay out of the classroom. Her daughter, who she now homeschools, is asthmatic, too.
"This being a respiratory issue, its not worth it for me... the risk is a lot higher so I can't physically put myself in that position in the classroom," she said.
"I can't physically put myself in that position in the classroom because I know how the schools are set up. These school buildings, the infrastructure is not equipped to prevent or circulate the air the way its needed to," she said. "The majority of the classrooms don't even have windows, some of the hallways are very narrow."
Other parents, like Michael Tweedy, whose kindergarten son has a learning disability, said kids learn better without the masks.
"It's just critical that he gets that face-to-face, unmasked attention," Tweedy said. "He has a speech delay."
"How will you teach speech if you can't even see the teachers' mouth? I'm in disbelief that we're going to push masks onto children who are the least affected of all the COVID patients,: he said.
Tweedy has been attending board meetings to fight mask mandates and fight for in-person learning.
"I will continue to fight this," said Tweedy. "I am blessed to have the means to seek alternative options to educate our children but we purposely moved here from Alpharetta to the county I got my education from. I will fight it tooth and nail."
Gwinnett County joins Atlanta Public Schools, Clayton County, Clarke County and DeKalb in requiring masks, and said its doing so because of a rise in cases.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta tells 11Alive it has seen an increase in positive cases in its urgent care centers and emergency departments. Many of the cases have been mild. It currently has four patients hospitalized with COVID-19.