Starting after Labor Day, Atlanta Public School employees will be required to be tested twice weekly in an attempt to curb the rising COVID-19 numbers in the district.
”Surveillance testing will allow us to keep up our momentum of quality, in-person learning and minimize the risk for everyone. Even if you are fully vaccinated, or have no symptoms, you may unknowingly expose others to the COVID-19 virus.”
Lisa Herring, Superintendent Atlanta Public Schools
This announcement comes after Decatur City Schools announced the possibility of making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for both students and staff this past Wednesday. Currently, for the week of August 20 For the week ending Aug. 20, APS reported 395 COVID-19 cases among staff and students.
Currently, districtwide, 19% of more than 21,000 eligible Atlanta Public Schools students were vaccinated by late last month while the employee rate is about 58%.