Community actions impact in-person learning at MCSD

By: 
Staff report

     Monticello Schools Superintendent Brian Jaeger warned the community that people’s behavior outside of the schools directly impacts whether the district will continue in-person learning versus 100 percent online learning.

     “I want the school to be open, but if the (COVID-19) numbers in Monticello get worse, that may not be an option,” Jaeger stated in his weekly update on Friday, Nov. 6.

     As of Jaeger’s release, the COVID-19 pandemic 14-day positivity rate was at 39.7 percent.

     “The number of positive COVID cases in Jones County has gone through the roof,” commented Jaeger.

     Monticello’s positivity rate is at 19.8 percent. Jaeger said even without the prison outbreak and the multiple senior care facilities experiencing outbreaks, the case numbers are still high.

     Throughout the school district, 10 percent of the staff is out due to testing positive for COVID or under quarantine because of exposure. Thirteen percent of the study body is out for the same reasons, higher than the previous week.

     A total of 37 students and staff are in isolation; 91 under quarantine.

     “We are watching these numbers very close because under the current conditions in Jones County, these numbers could spike up very fast,” said Jaeger. “I am not trying to sound an alarm or overreact, but I’m trying to paint a realistic picture of our situation.”

     Jaeger urged members of the community to “make good decisions” for themselves and their family.

     The MCSD has approximately 224 PreK-12 students participating in online learning. That’s 22 percent of the population.

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