Hamilton County Schools officials said Monday they have decided not to take temperatures of students and staff after all.
The decision comes two days before the opening of school.
Officials said, "Since presenting our HCS Continuous Learning Plan to the Hamilton County School Board on July 2, our School Reopening Task Force has learned new information to inform our reopening plan.
"We initially intended to take student and staff temperatures daily during Phase 2, but after multiple conversations with health experts we recognize there are several reasons to forego universal temperature checks.
"First, not all individuals with COVID-19 experience a fever; in fact, children are more likely to be asymptomatic than adults.
"Moreover, the CDC does not recommend universal symptoms screenings be conducted by schools.
"Finally, taking temperatures of all students and staff necessarily puts some of our personnel in harms way by asking them to be exposed, in close range, to a large number of individuals each day.
"Universal temperature checks may also cause crowding as students and staff wait to be screened.
"With all of these considerations in mind, we will no longer be implementing universal temperature checks during any of our Phases, including Phase 2.
"We will continue to use temperature screenings, as we always have, for any students or employees that report to the nurse’s office feeling sick.
"Finally, in keeping with our HCS SAFE Pledge, we ask that parents closely monitor their students’ health before school each day and keep students at home if they are ill."