Monroe Messages
A Newsletter of Monroe County Schools
On behalf of Monroe County Schools, please be advised that, based on the Governor's decision through Executive Order to end the Public Health State of Emergency on June 30, 2021, and the significant improvement of the state of public health, we are returning to pre-pandemic school operations for the 2021-22 school year, which begins August. 2, 2021. More back-to-school information will be shared with our families in the upcoming editions of Monroe Messages and through our school websites.

  • MCS will not issue mandated precautionary quarantines to students or staff for close contact at school with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. When principals are informed of a positive case among students or staff, they will notify any affected staff and email a notification to the parents of students in the affected classes notifying them of the positive case and the important need to monitor for symptoms, but no precautionary quarantines will be required. This is the same state-mandated practice MCS follows for other serious communicable diseases.
  • Students or staff who test positive for COVID-19 will continue to follow Department of Public Health guidelines, which require you to stay home for 10 days since symptoms first appeared and be fever-free, without use of fever-reducing medications, for 24 hours before returning to school.
  • Staff and students are not required to wear masks in MCS schools or offices at any time, but can choose to wear them. MCS will continue to provide disposable masks to individuals who might request them.
  • COVID-19 vaccinations are not required for employees or students, but are encouraged and recommended. The Monroe County Health Department and many local healthcare providers have COVID-19 vaccines readily available, so there are no plans to host COVID-19 vaccination events at MCS schools or offices.
  • Schools will hold open house and schedule pick-up events the last week of July. Individual schools will notify parents and students regarding the dates and times of these school events.
  • Schools will return to their normal operating procedures for lunchtime and class instruction. Assemblies and field trips will resume. Special events open to parents and families will resume, and parent volunteers will be permitted to work throughout the school, including classrooms.
  • MCS will continue to invest in increased cleaning and sanitizing at all school locations and will continue to provide surface and hand sanitizer spray to classrooms. All HVAC units at all schools have been upgraded to include bi-polar ionization air quality systems.
  • The school system will continue to monitor COVID-19 cases in our community and area and will adjust mitigation protocols as needed.
Scoliosis Screening
A scoliosis screening is required for all students in the 6th and 8th
grades who attend public school in Georgia.

Please click for Parent Letter and Parent Form to complete this process.
Monroe County Schools, through federal CARES Act funds, will provide FREE school supplies to all students in grades PK-12 for the 2021-2022 school year. Through a cooperative effort with Wal-Mart, each student’s supply list will be fulfilled. Parents and students will receive these supplies at open house or at a designated schedule pick up time at Mary Persons High School or Monroe County Achievement Center. Approximately $180,000 of federal CARES Act funds have been designated for this project.  
Superintendent Dr. Mike Hickman stated that this effort will be a financial relief to many families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. “This is just one way that we can use CARES Act funds effectively to help families have what their students need for school in the 2021-2022 school year.”  
Each level’s school supply list will be distributed and available through the Monroe County Schools system and school websites; however, each supply list is clearly marked that the parent/guardian can see that these are not required to be purchased. 
Wishlist items such as hand sanitizer, tissues, and wipes will be solicited through partnerships and other entities which can provide these through donations.
Parents and guardians are welcome to contact their student’s school for more clarification. For more information on Monroe County Schools, see http://www.monroe.k12.ga.us. 
Updated 2021 - 2022 School Year Calendar
For more information on the program and to see if you qualify, click here.
Public Notice: Destruction of Old Special Education Records
Monroe County Schools will be destroying old Special Education records in August of 2021. The records scheduled to be destroyed are for persons served in special education and born in 1999. If you desire to have your records, please contact the Department of Instructional Student Support 478-994-2031 x 1604. Records not picked up by August 2, 2021 will be destroyed.