The Gaston Gazette
Gaston County school board members spent their Monday morning coordinating with lawmakers on hopes and goals for the future of Gaston County Schools.
House Reps. John Torbett, Dana Bumgardner, and Kelly Hastings, along with N.C Sens. Kathy Harrington and N.C. Sen. Ted Alexander, attended the board’s 2021 legislative meeting, which the board holds annually to communicate with state legislative leaders.
The all-Republican legislative delegation kicked off the meeting by summarizing a variety of ongoing issues, including inconsistent vaccine roll out across the state, curriculum and instruction, getting students back in school and the state budget. While it’s early, Torbett said the pandemic may have not had significant impacts on funding.
More than 600 students and employees at Gaston County Schools tested positive for COVID-19 during the first semester of the 2020-21 school year.
As of the week of Dec. 14, 2020, 650 students and employees contracted the virus at some point during the semester, according to charts provided by the school district.
That total includes 21 COVID-19 cases at the school district central office and seven cases among those in Gaston Virtual Academy.
Aside from the occasional dip, case totals per week within the school district has steadily increased since school began in August.
Gaston County Schools reported a massive jump, from 65 cases the week of Nov. 30 to 119 cases the following week.
When they eventually return to classrooms, thousands of North Carolina students - along with their teachers - will have access to rapid COVID-19 testing.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has selected 17 school districts and 11 charter schools to receive more than 50,000 federally funded rapid antigen tests through its pilot testing program. Each school plans to offer classroom instruction for either some or all of its students this winter.
“This program gives us another tool in our tool kit to slow the spread of COVID-19 across our state and to keep children in the classroom, which we know is vital not only to their academic growth but also to their health and emotional development,” state health secretary Mandy Cohen said in a statement last week.
Seventeen school districts and 11 charter schools have been selected by North Carolina health officials to receive rapid COVID-19 tests as part of a state pilot program.
The K-12 schools will use the tests when in-person instruction is occurring. All schools selected offer either full in-person instruction or a hybrid of remote learning and in-person instruction.
The NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) believe the rapid tests will slow the spread of the virus by quickly identifying infected students and staff.
“This program gives us another tool in our toolkit to slow the spread of COVID-19 across our state and to keep children in the classroom, which we know is vital not only to their academic growth but also to their health and emotional development,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen. “We will learn from these pilot schools and plan to expand the program early next year.”