The Knoxville School District has seen extremely low transmission rates of COVID-19 and other diseases throughout this school year. High school biology teacher Ryan Richardson says that the use of masks has been required, and it’s easy to see why illness rates have been so low.
“In Knoxville High School and the other buildings, we’ve worn masks, we’ve done a lot of cleaning, and all those measures have been effective. We haven’t seen coronavirus spread within our buildings. Masks simply work. It really does disrupt a route of transmission. It keeps my germs to myself so that I can’t infect other people, if I am positive, and it keeps me safe from other people if they wear their mask effectively too.”
The Knoxville School District will receive bids for its middle school construction project today. Superintendent Cassi Pearson says that final packages will be determined, and final plans will be closer to completion after this process.
“We’re really excited that we’ll be doing bid openings for our middle school project. We’ve got quite a few of our major packages that will be unveiled at how much the bids come in at. Some area schools just recently had their bid letting and came in well under budget. So we’re hopeful that our project is going to look good and our budget is also going to be maintained or look a little healthier than we anticipate. But we’ll know more after Thursday.”
The Knoxville School District has a new method for parents and guardians to report COVID-19 cases. A Google Form will now be used to inform the district of a positive test or exposure to a positive case. Parents and guardians should also inform coaches or sponsors of any extracurricular activity in grades 7 through 12 of a positive test or exposure.
Additionally, anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19 but has not developed symptoms may return to school after Day 10 of quarantine. Those students still must wait 14 days before returning to participation in extracurricular activities.