An Athens elementary school has moved to virtual learning due to an increase in COVID-19 positive cases and quarantine.
At Chase Street Elementary School, a total of eight positive COVID-19 cases were reported, causing 114 students to need to quarantine.
On Friday, students moved to a virtual learning format and it will continue all next week. School officials expect students to return to the building on May 17.
In a letter to families, school officials said that contact tracers determined that the cases were due to community exposure. If a child at the school tests positive, the parents are asked to notify principal Angela Jackson, principal Tracy Neal, or the school nurse immediately at 706-543-1081.
Xernona Thomas was named superintendent of the Clarke County School District on Thursday.
The move came on an evening when she spoke about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and apologized for a recent statement that high school students would remain in virtual learning when classes begin in 2021.
“That was an error on our part and we apologize for all the stress and anxiety it has caused everyone,” she said, adding that the district would work to “to get those students back” in school buildings.
Thomas, an Athens native who graduated Clarke Central High School, spoke during a virtual Clarke County Board of Education meeting Thursday evening.