ECS: Rise in COVID-19 cases prompts delay to start of 2020-21 academic year

Elizabethton City Schools have announced they will delay the start of their academic year due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in Carter County.

The school system uses the Epi Curve metric, which gauges the average number of new cases per 100,000 county residents for the last 14 days. ECS re-entry plan basis its decisions on the school system operation status off that metric. It is one piece of data the system will use throughout the school year in addition to advice from local and regional health departments.

Some of the modifications ECS is making to the start of the school year includes changing the first half day scheduled for August 5th to a teacher workday. The other change includes using a staggered re-entry plan, dividing the student body alphabetically starting Monday, August 10th through Friday, August 14th.

A press release say they will determine how to proceed forward with instruction starting Monday, August 17th, after consulting with health and school officials.