preventable with vaccine. dr. craft, thanks for joining us. thank you. the surging number of covid cases is already interrupting the new school year in atlanta. more than 100 students at a charter school are in quarantine this morning. our natasha chen is outside of atlanta drew charter school. this has us so worried about what is ahead as school districts open. reporter: yeah, poppy, there is a lot of frustration here. we have heard from the head of school who told the atlanta journal constitution that these few positive test cases likely did not stem from campus, but they are still looking into that. what we do have is a letter from the head of school to families explaining that on wednesday night they found out about these positive test cases. by thursday they had informed families of the students who were in close contact, so now more than 100 of them are in quarantine. now, the head of school also told the hac that the staff members who tested positive were
and now those students, more than 100 of them in quarantine. the head of school here told the atlanta journal constitution that the most impacted grades are two, six and seven and the positive test cases likely did not stem from this campus, although that s still under investigation. the head of school also told the hac that the staff who tested positive were not vaccinated. now, it s not required for employees to be vaccinated, but the head of school did tell the ajc about three quarters of them are. he also told the paper that about one third of the eligible students that s kids 12 and up are actually vaccinated. masks are required indoors at school. there was a requirement for employees to get tested before the school year and to continue weekly testing. students are encouraged to do that as well. we re hearing from a parent that families are frustrated this happened so early in the school year. wondering whether it s possible to mandate vaccines for staff
back in-person. of course, that is a very difficult to coordinate that kind of policy. this is part of a public school system. we have reached out to the drew school for comment and more information, poppy. natasha chen, thank you very much for your reporting. coming up next, the mayor of new york city will join me live as he faces a decision on whether to reinstate an indoor mask mandate in this city. he is also launching a new incentive, $100 cash to people who get vaccinated. a lot to talk about with mayor bill de blasio. also oklahoma senator james lankford changes his tune flirting with 2020 election conspiracies as he faces a tough republican primary. hear what cnn asked him ahead. and i ll speak to a mother ready to sue the state of arkansas over legislation that prevents local school districts from imposing mask mandates. that fight ahead. mmm, licorice records. wonka, digital workflows for it tell us this machine needs updating. kids don t really have records anymore.
not vaccinated. there s no requirement for employees to be vaccinated, but the head of school said that three quarters of them are. he also told the hac that about a third of the eligible students 12 and up are vaccinated at the school. so there s a frustration here among the parents, one that we talked to said this is happening so fast, he kind of expected it coming. and it s a lot to deal with. it s so early in the school year for this to be going on. we re just going back, so it makes you on edge and not at ease. we don t have a mandate where you have to get vaccinated, so that s hard to say that, okay, the teacher shouldn t have been there, which i figure they shouldn t have been in school if they re not vaccinated. i mean, that s why they should have held off until we got everything under control. reporter: he said he had been very concerned about the delta variant and the uptick in numbers. so he was already nervous about that. he said if he were in charge, he would have aske