State Board Of Education Holds Meeting To Give COVID-19 Update

The State Board of Education held their monthly special meeting Thursday to give an update on COVID-19 in the state and in school districts across the state.

The board had discussed a variety of topics centered around districts with new mask policies and why quarantining is key.

In Thursday’s meeting the Interim State Epidemiologist, Dr. Jared Taylor, was on the call to give an update from the state.

"We are pleased with how everything is going,” said Taylor. “But we aren't pleased with where the state is at in terms of COVID cases and we aren't pleased with the impact that has on schools."

Taylor made sure he mentioned the importance of quarantining. He said even if a student is felling OK, they need to be quarantined for the full 14 days if they have been exposed.

"Even before they have symptoms or even absence of symptoms they can still produce or attribute to that accumulation of exposure that will ultimately produce more severe disease, even in children, and transmit it to the school and in the community,” said Taylor.

He noted that the department is also considering different ways of how they do contact tracing in the schools. He said they have been using text messaging, but it hasn’t done well in the school setting.

So, they are talking about sending out letters on multiple platforms to make sure everyone is on the same page.

"It may be through the student’s portal electronically, it may be mailed to the parents or handed to the parents - whatever the school feels is best and most effective,” said Dr. Taylor.