COVID-19 Health & Safety
The safety of all students and staff remains our highest priority in the DeKalb County School District. The COVID Task Force continues to monitor the data published by the Department of Public Health (DPH) to guide decisions made related to COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the COVID-19 Community Levels tool helps communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels are classified as low, medium, or high and are determined by evaluating specific indicators.
To determine the community level for DeKalb County, click here.
Public health and individual recommendations for prevention measures informed by COVID-19 Community Levels are intended to minimize severe disease and prevent strain on the healthcare system, especially for disproportionately affected populations. Recommendations reflect a priority on implementing prevention measures when individuals are at particularly high risk and communities have the potential for healthcare system strain. Specific individual- and household-level prevention behaviors are recommended for each level of COVID-19 Community Level to provide individuals information based on their level of risk for severe disease. Community-level prevention measures are also recommended for each COVID-19 Community Level.
- At the Low level, individual and community-level recommendations focus on best practices in infection prevention and control in community settings, in addition to promoting up-to-date vaccinations as the front-line strategy to protect from severe disease. These include improving ventilation, testing to identify infection early, and following recommendations for isolation and after an exposure.
- The Medium level strengthens emphasis on protecting people who are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease, and enhanced prevention measures for high-risk settings.
- At the High level, additional recommendations for individuals and communities focus on wearing masks indoors in public and providing added protection to populations at high risk.
Recommendations are intended to be additive, in that recommendations for the low community level apply to the medium and high levels, and the additional recommendations for medium level apply to the high level. Recommendations are provided for individuals and for community settings such as schools, and for some high-risk congregate settings.
Per Senate Bill 514, mask wearing is optional for students in all DCSD buildings, facilities, and school buses or other approved modes of transportation.
If there are questions, please contact Lead Nurse Coordinator, Joann Harris, via email at joann_harris@dekalbschoolsga.org
Disclaimer: The DeKalb County School District reserves the right to update the mask wearing requirement based on changes in the COVID-19 Community Levels and information from the Medical Advisory Committee, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), DeKalb County Board of Health (DCBOH) as well as other local, state, and federal agencies.