The COVID-19 pandemic continued to surge last week with cases rising not only in DeKalb, but all through the Middle Tennessee region. According to data provided by the state’s COVID Dashboard, the spike began shortly after the 4th of July holiday and has continued rising ever since.
With data provided up to August 27, there were 318 positive active cases reported in DeKalb County, with 58 deaths and 59 hospitalized. There have been 3,293 total cases, with 2,975 reported as inactive or recovered.
By comparison, Warren County is reporting 521 active cases as of August 27, with 91 deaths and 95 hospitalized. They have 6,324 total cases with 5,803 recovered.
Putnam County has 13,283 total cases with 12,322 recovered and 961 active cases. They report 185 deaths and 235 hospitalized.
In Wilson County there are 1,633 active cases, with 22,451 total and 20,818 recovered. They report 268 deaths and 407 hospitalized.
Hit especially hard in DeKalb County is the DeKalb School System, with many students and faculty effected. According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, COVID case numbers have steadily been rising over the past few weeks. On August 18, the school system reported 43 COVID cases in the schools county wide with 101 in quarantine. On Friday, August 27, that number had risen to 130 positive cases with 349 quarantined.
DCHS seems to be hit the hardest with 81 cases and 138 quarantined. DMS was second with 28 cases and 45 quarantined, while Northside had 18 cases and 64 quarantined. SES had six positive cases and 46 quarantined, while DeKalb West had seven cases and 56 quarantined.
DeKalb Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said that his hands are tied as to how to deal with COVID this year. “Right now our cases are increasing. They’ve increased daily for the last week. When the governor [Governor Bill Lee] lifted the state of emergency for the pandemic, that eliminated the use of our continuous learning plan. Last year we were able to use remote learning when we had COVID cases, or parents were able to choose remote learning.”
“On his [The Governor] interview last week, he stated that he had no intentions of at this time to do remote learning and it’s really put us in a difficult position within the school district,” Cripps continued. “The governor’s reasoning is the learning loss, where so many kids did remote learning last year and did not pass. There were struggles, but you have to look at what’s best for the kids, and not just academic wise, not only for kids, but also our faculty and staff.”
Director Cripps said that he has been in contact with local lawmakers to express his concerns. “I’ve been able to reach out to State Senator Mark Pody and State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver and talk to them about my concerns, and concerns on covering classes when we have so many staff out. When bus drivers get it, that shuts down a bus route. If the cafeteria employees get it, that shuts the kitchen down. Luckily so far, those are things we’ve been able to cover so far. There have been some bus routes we haven’t been able to cover, but that will shut you down in a hurry. Right now, we’re not able to use remote learning for our teachers and our students, and to shut school down we’d have to use our inclement weather days.”
Director Cripps also said that he is limited on preventative measures at the schools. “The governor also came out and said that he wouldn’t implement a mask mandate and that parents could opt out, and that’s their right, but like I told some of the senators and representatives, I feel like we’ve gone into a fight without anything to fight with. We don’t have options.”
“I’m not for remote all year long, but when our cases get so high, I think we ought to have that option of being able to close schools down and do remote learning during that time. We’ve got our 1:1 devices where we can continue education when we’re not in school. We’re not looking to take advantage of the situation. We’re just wanting to do what’s best for our community. We don’t feel like we have options right now.”
Director Cripps had a web conference with Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn on Monday, where schools were basically told that they are on their own. Schwinn told School Directors that the State would consider virtual learning waivers on a school by school, or class by class basis, but that school districts should do whatever it takes to stay open.
As of August 27 data, the State of Tennessee reports 1,013,943 total cases, with 68,430 active. There have been 13,304 deaths attributed to the virus.
