Note on Health and Safety April 30, 2021

April 30, 2021

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events
may be not be relevant for the current school year.

Following Gov. Lee’s press conference on Tuesday, his administration clarified that school systems can continue to set policies and make decisions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The conditions of the pandemic in our schools have thankfully improved since the major spikes last fall and winter. However, there are still active cases in our schools, with the vast majority of cases in the past few weeks being students. Currently, almost half of CMCSS employees have been vaccinated, and several students who are eligible have been vaccinated. At this time, only one vaccine is available to students 16 years and older.

With around 88% of the almost 28,000 students learning in-person in our schools not being eligible for a vaccine and over 3,200 students across the district with heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19 as defined by the CDC, we must continue our commitment to mitigating the spread of the disease in our schools these last three-and-a-half weeks of the school year. It is very promising that soon the vaccine could be available for children younger than 16.

At this time, the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, Tennessee Department of Health, and other agencies still recommend the use of face masks in schools. All CMCSS students, employees, and visitors are required to wear face masks in all common areas of schools and district buildings, when physical distancing cannot be maintained anywhere in a building, and on transportation. CMCSS will update families when recommendations change in the future and face masks are no longer required. Please know that we all look forward to returning to normal operations.

For an overview of CMCSS’ health and safety measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, click here.