2023-24 School Year

  • Cartersville City Schools continues in-person instruction for the 2023-24 school year and continues to monitor CDC COVID-19 recommendations. For the most updated COVID-19 information, please visit the CDC's COVID-19 guidance. 

  • 2022-23 School Year

    Cartersville City Schools has fully resumed in-person instruction for the 2022-23 school year. We will continue to offer online instruction through Cartersville Virtual Academy (CVA). For details on the CVA application process, please contact your child's school. School officials are continuing to monitor COVID-19 in our schools and community. Should the need arise, Cartersville City Schools will implement any necessary CDC safety protocols.

Public Health Protocols

  • Cartersville City Schools continues to monitor the changing conditions of COVID-19 and assess its impact on our community and state. As it becomes appropriate, we may adjust the protocols and procedures observed in our schools and our district. 

    JANUARY 1 | PUBLIC HEALTH PROTOCOLS

    Transcript of an email sent by Superintendent Dr. Marc Feuerbach

    CCS Families and Staff,

    Thank you for your support as we had a great first semester. I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas break and is excited about our return to school for the second semester on January 4. 

    While we had hoped to see positive COVID-19 cases continue to decline as we have observed over the past few months, the most recent information from our local hospital and Department of Public Health is showing that the newest Omicron variant has caused an increase in positive cases.To minimize the impact in our schools, we will limit non-academic program volunteers on our campuses through January 14, 2022. We will also continue to follow the strategies we utilized last semester. As a reminder, when a school has a total positivity rate of 1% for a seven-day period, students will eat breakfast and lunch in the classroom, only visitors associated with an academic program will be invited on campus, and all staff and students are encouraged to wear masks in situations when social distancing cannot be achieved. 

    One of the attributes that makes our school community so successful is the successful partnership we have with our families. We hope you will help us by encouraging your children to continue to practice good hygiene, keeping them home from school if they are sick or have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID 19, and reminding them to feel free to wear a mask if that is a choice your family has made.  If your child will not be at school on Tuesday, January 4, due to the fact that they meet the CDC and DPH quarantine recommendations (listed below) following a positive COVID-19 test or exposure to someone who has tested positive, please contact your child's school on Monday, January 3.

    Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC and Georgia DPH are shortening the recommended time for isolation for the public. Their recommendation for isolation is as follows:

    Isolation: Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 (regardless of vaccination status) must:

    • Isolate at home for 5 days from the date symptoms first appeared or, if asymptomatic, the date of the positive test. Stay away from others in the household as much as possible during isolation.
    • After 5 days, if you have no symptoms or your symptoms are resolving and you have not had fever for more than 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, you may end isolation. If symptoms are not improving or fever has not resolved, you should continue isolating until these criteria are met.
    • After ending isolation, you should continue to wear a mask around others for 5 days.

    Their recommendation for quarantine is as follows:

     
    Quarantine: If you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and you are
    • Boosted, or have become fully vaccinated within the last 6 months (Moderna or Pfizer vaccine) or within the last 2 months (J&J vaccine):
      • You do not need to quarantine at home.
      • You should wear a mask around others for 10 days.
      • If possible, get tested on day 5.
      • If you develop symptoms, get tested and isolate at home until test results are received, then proceed in accordance with the test results.
    • Unvaccinated, or became fully vaccinated more than 6 months ago (Moderna or Pfizer vaccine) or more than 2 months ago (J&J vaccine) and have not received a booster:
      • You must quarantine at home for 5 days. After that, continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days.
      • If possible, get tested on day 5.
      • If you develop symptoms, get tested and isolate at home until test results are received, then proceed in accordance with the test results.

    *CCS will continue to follow the quarantine guidelines from last semester for exposures at school and will not issue mandated precautionary quarantines to students or staff for close contact at school with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

    Keeping our schools open will take the support of everyone in our community. We appreciate your continued support and understanding as we work to keep our schools open and safe.

     

    AUGUST 20 | PUBLIC HEALTH PROTOCOLS 

    When a school has a total positivity rate of 1% for a seven-day period CCS will implement increased protocols. The following protocols and procedures will be observed by the school: 

    • Breakfast and lunch will be served in the classroom
    • Only visitors associated with an academic program will be invited on campus
    • We recommend students and staff wear face coverings in situations where social distancing cannot be achieved such as arrival to school, in the hallways during class changes, school dismissal and riding the bus. 

     JULY 31 | RETURN TO SCHOOL PUBLIC HEALTH PROTOCOLS

    Due to the end of the Public Health State of Emergency on June 30, 2021, Cartersville City Schools will return to school with normal operating procedures. However, CCS will institute the following Public Health Protocols for the 2021-22 school year, and we will continue to monitor any outbreaks in our schools and make any necessary adjustments as needed. 

     Face Covering

    • Optional for students and staff in school buildings, on school buses, and at extracurricular activities
    • Disposable masks will continue to be provided to those who might request them

     Social Distance 

    • Social distancing in classrooms and school buildings will be observed when appropriate and feasible

     Visitors, Field Trips

    •  Volunteers will be permitted to work throughout the school in accordance with Cartersville City Board Policy and school safety protocols
    • Field trips and school assemblies will resume as normal

     Water Fountains, Cafeteria and Bell Schedules

    •  Schools will return to their normal operating procedures for lunchtime and class bell schedules
    • Water bottle filling stations will continue to be available

     Cleaning and Sanitizing

    • Hand sanitizer will be available throughout all system facilities
    • Daily cleaning of high-touch surfaces in school buildings
    • School buses will be disinfected after each morning and afternoon bus route

     School Clinics

      • If a student exhibits COVID-19 related symptoms while in the school clinic, the nurse has the discretion to request that the student wear a mask while in the clinic, being assessed by the nurse, or waiting for parent pick-up

     COVID-19 Vaccinations

    • COVID-19 vaccinations are not required for employees or students but are encouraged and recommended by public health officials

     Quarantine

    • Students and staff identified as close contacts to a positive COVID-19 case will be notified and contact tracing will be implemented 
    • In the absence of symptoms, CCS will not prohibit students from attending school but it is recommended that parents still adhere to DPH guidelines
    • Unvaccinated students and unvaccinated staff members who live in the same household as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 should quarantine in accordance with DPH guidelines
    • If a family decides to have their child quarantine, this quarantine will be in accordance with Department of Public Health (DPH) guidelines and will be considered an excused absence. Students will be allowed to make up work as they would any other excused absence

     Isolation

    • Any student or staff member who tests positive for COVID-19 will be required to isolate in accordance with DPH guidelines