The Hamilton County Schools is reporting 13 active coronavirus cases among staff members, officials said in announcing a new COVID-19 Dashboard. That includes two new cases.

It is planned to begin reporting the number of student cases as well, it was stated.

There are 25 active "close contacts."

Officials said 69 staff members are awaiting test results.

School officials said, "The district wants to be as transparent as possible with the public about what is happening in our schools, so we’ve created the COVID-19 Reporting Dashboard.

"This page includes the number of active confirmed COVID-19 cases and exposures in our schools, as well as percentage of positive cases for employees and students by month. The district has been tracking employee COVID-19 data since March 16, 2020. Student data tracking began on Aug. 12, 2020, and will be included on this page soon. Our rate of positive cases mirrors the positivity rate for Hamilton County as a whole. You can view COVID-19 data for Hamilton County here.

"This webpage has embedded a real-time reporting, using Google Data Studio. The information will update immediately as it is recorded by HCS personnel. We are working to integrate similar real-time reporting for student data, and we will embed the real-time reporting student dashboard in the coming days. In the meantime, we will update school information daily on this webpage.

"The webpage will also report campuses closed for that day due to the COVID-19 response. As of today, August 13, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences (CSAS) and Loftis Middle were closed for cleaning and contacting tracing due to positive confirmed cases reported in those school communities. On Friday, Barger Academy and Lookout Valley Middle/High will also be closed for cleaning and contact tracing.  All four facilities will be cleaned and disinfected as a safety precaution. Friday was scheduled to be a remote learning day for all students.  All activities planned for Friday should be completed remotely with the lesson instructions provided by the student’s teacher. Barger, CSAS, Loftis, and Lookout Valley will open again on Monday on the regular schedule planned for the week. 

"The HCS SAFE Pledge will help us to keep our children safe.  The “S” in SAFE stands for stay at home when you or your child is sick. It is crucial for the health and safety of others that children and staff do not come to school or for parents or visitors to visit the school if you are sick or have felt a need to take a COVID-19 test for which you have not received results.  Moreover, no one should come to school if you have been in close contact with someone with a confirmed COVID-19 positive test result. Thank you for taking the SAFE Pledge and helping us keep our children and staff healthy.

 

"Over the first two days of school, students and staff have done an excellent job of following CDC guidelines by wearing masks, socially distancing in the school, and washing hands regularly.  All of these guidelines are designed to keep our children and staff safe in all situations.  We thank parents for stressing the importance of these safety precautions with children.

 

"For more information about our Health and Safety plan, please see our HCS School Reopening FAQs and our HCS Reentry and Continuous Learning Plan."