The Calhoun County School Board was notified Friday, August 21, by the Florida Department of Health for Calhoun County of a positive COVID-19 case at Altha School and recommended quarantine orders for specific students and staff.
According to School Superintendent Darryl Taylor, Jr., all individuals potentially affected were contacted and that all necessary safety, cleaning and sanitizing orders have been and will continue to be followed. “The health and safety of our students and staff are our top priority and we will continue to monitor this situation,” he stated in a release issued on the school website.
All 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students were dismissed Friday and the one individual who tested positive and those determined to have been in contact with the positive case will be quarantined until August 31st.
“The impact of a positive case makes it difficult for us to have continuity,” Taylor pointed out. Although Calhoun County has been fortunate so far with positive cases of COVID, parents still had to make choices on their child’s method of education. In Calhoun County, according to Superintendent Taylor, 1,617 are in the regular classroom setting, 258 have chosen the ILE (Innovative Learning Environment), and 152 are currently using the virtual method with the majority of those in grades 9 through 12.
