Greenwood High School students reported back to school for in-person classes Monday after the campus was closed all of last week due to an outbreak of COVID-19 involving five students.
The closure, which occurred during the first full week of school, prompted 150 students and 17 teachers and staff at the school to quarantine, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Dr. Mary Brown, the superintendent, told the school board during a special called meeting Monday that out of the 100 students who were tested for COVID-19 during screenings at the school Friday, four results came back positive.
No contact tracing was conducted for these students since they were already in quarantine, Charles Johnson, assistant superintendent, said.
School officials said last week that students who were quarantined would have to submit proof of a negative test to return to campus.
The high school students, who have not been penalized for missing a week of instruction due to the closure, recommenced their studies where they left off over a week ago, Brown said.
Last week the district issued Google Chromebooks and internet hot spot devices to all of the students to supplement in-person classroom instruction. The Chromebooks will also be used for remote learning should there be any school closures due to outbreaks in the future.
In another matter related to COVID-19, Samantha Milton, the school board’s president, said that she had Kelvin Pulley, the board’s attorney, request an expedited opinion from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office to determine who has the ultimate authority to issue school emergency closures, the superintendent or the school board.
Greenwood High’s campus closure was made by school district officials since the board had not convened to vote on whether to shut the school down.
There is a contradiction within the school district’s policy over who has the ultimate authority to order an emergency closure, Milton and Pulley both said.
At one point, the district’s policy states that the superintendent, “upon application of the school board,” can close a school, though elsewhere the policy states that a superintendent can issue a shutdown in an emergency and does not mention approval from the board.
Pulley said that if the attorney general’s opinion indicates that the board needs to pre-approve school closures issued by the superintendent, then the board may have to quickly meet virtually to approve closures before they go into effect.
Opinions issued by the Attorney General’s Office, which are not legally binding, are used to inform entities on the interpretation of the law. Pulley said that it might take one to two weeks to receive the opinion.
The board also met in executive session, during which it discussed the financial audit for the district and contracts for classified employees, Milton said after the meeting.
“Most of the contracts for classified employees have been issued, and the information for the financial audit has been submitted,” she said.
The board also directed Pulley to provide a letter to Brown regarding the supervision of certain employees, Milton added.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
