Monroe Messages
A Newsletter of Monroe County Schools
Monroe County Schools Discontinues Daily Temp Screenings 
per Latest CDC Guidance

Based on the latest updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Georgia Department of Public Health, the school system is making the following revision to our covid mitigation practices. On-site daily screening will no longer be required in schools at this time. This means that school staff will not be conducting temperature checks of students upon arrival at school. The latest guidance from the CDC website is below. 

Based on the best available evidence at this time,
  • CDC does not currently recommend schools conduct symptom screening for all students in grades K-12 on a routine (e.g., daily) basis.
  • Parents, caregivers, or guardians ("caregivers") should be strongly encouraged to monitor their children for symptoms of infectious illness every day through home-based symptom screening.
  • Students who are sick should not attend school in-person.
We learn more about COVID-19 every day, and as more information becomes available, CDC will continue to update and share information. As our knowledge and understanding of COVID-19 evolves, this guidance may change.

Our system continues to follow the guidelines of the CDC and the Department of Public Health in isolating and quarantining students either positive for Covid or who have been in close contact with a positive case. The DPH still classifies close contact as being within six feet of the person with Covid-19 for 15 minutes or more. When this is determined, parents of affected students are asked to quarantine their children at home for a specified period of time. Appropriate information from public health is provided to the parents as guidance.

The school system strongly urges all staff, students, and parents to follow these actions to combat the spread of Covid and all other illnesses:
  • Wear masks as prescribed in school settings. 
  • Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care. 
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. 
  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands. 
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water or approved hand sanitizer.
The Monroe County School District posts a daily report of Covid-19 statistics on its system website. The report is updated by 5 p.m. each school day in the Monroe County Schools COVID-19 Information Toolkit located off of the district's home page. Data points reported are statistics as available and processed for that day. 

In addition to the daily report and existing weekly update, there are many other resources available on the Covid-19 Information Toolkit.

Summer for Georgia Readers Starts on May 3
Get Georgia Reading partner Renaissance is again delivering thousands of free books—plus engaging daily news articles—to computer and mobile devices. Young readers can search from several different categories and genres, including books for struggling readers and Spanish and bilingual titles. We’re challenging Georgians to read for 1.5 million minutes from May 3 – July 31.
 
Families in Georgia can register to join Renaissance myON’s digital reading platform beginning on May 3 and already have access to Get Georgia Reading at Home, a comprehensive online catalog that offers early learning resources for children from birth through age 5 and helps develop skills for students in grades K – 3.
 
Our partners will again launch GeorgiaSummer.org in May to give every family in Georgia access to this online toolkit.
Proposed Math Education Standards Open for 30-day Public Comment Period
 
The Georgia Department of Education has posted the K-12 Mathematics Standards for review for a 30-day public comment period. If approved, the standards will be implemented in the 2022-23 school year.
 
Throughout the 2021-2022 school year, teachers will receive training and professional learning, new resources will be developed, assessments that are aligned to these standards will be developed, and communication will be provided to parents to ensure a smooth transition.
 
The draft standards and additional information can be found at the following links:
 
 
To provide feedback on the proposed standards, click here.
 
The proposed standards were developed based on a formal review and evaluation process which included opportunities for teachers, parents and families, students, and committee members to participate through surveys and committees. The current review period comes prior to a vote by the State Board of Education in May on whether to approve the new standards.
Monroe County Schools Transportation Team offers two resources for parents/guardians. E-Link provides zone information. MyStop provides real-time tracking of your student's bus. Download MyStop today!
SmartBus Wifi Provided by Monroe County Schools and Southern Rivers Energy:
Available 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Look for the SMARTBUS sign in the window of the bus.
Supporting Online Learning
Click here for a list of community locations which are providing wifi services to students and SmartBus locations. Please contact the community organization if you have questions.