State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley thanked Governor Edwards for allowing schools to stay in Phase Three even as most of the rest of the state moves back into Phase Two.
Brumley said Edwards agreed with medical experts who are increasingly confident that schools are not super spreader locations.
“We have over 800,000 kids and right now we have about 4,400 total positive cases for the year, so not even one half of one percent,” said Brumley.
Under the current Modified Phase Two school systems are allowed to stay in Phase Three, but can go backward should they choose. Churches also can stay at Phase Three.
Brumley said the biggest challenge they face is the quarantine protocol once a student tests positive. He says one positive case can lead to over 50 students needing to quarantine.
“Overwhelmingly these students who are going on quarantine are not coming down with the virus,” said Brumley.
The CDC has indicated that a new round of quarantine policy recommendations could be coming soon.
Brumley said the low number of total cases they’ve seen is evidence that sending children to school might actually be safer than keeping them home.
“We know that when many kids are not at school they are not practicing some of the safe behaviors that are important for combatting the virus,” said Brumley.
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