Madison City Schools Brings Back Contact Tracing, Quarantines Exposed Students | Archive

Madison City Schools (MCS) had a record number of positive COVID cases last week.

There were 89 positive cases across the district. This is why they are adjusting some of their COVID-19 protocols.

MCS brings back contact tracing and quarantines close contacts for at least 14 days. Parents are happy that the school is now forcing people who have been exposed to stay home.

“It seemed like they were prioritizing not inconveniencing families with precautions, more than stopping the spread of COVID,” Lindsey Williams said. “I hope that changes.”

Williams has a daughter at Columbia Elementary.

She’s happy the district is now making sure close contacts stay home, but thinks it’s concerning that the state considers a close contact to be 3 feet away instead of 6.

“It’s a little disconcerting that you have to be less than a meter away to receive this notification,” she said. “Knowing that there are so many cases and not knowing whether or not they are in my child’s class, or whether or not she may have had contact but not necessarily within a meter. makes me a little nervous.”

Justin Alexander is eager to see what new guidelines the state might release for schools.

She was nervous about her kids doing in-person learning this year instead of virtual, but she said her hands were tied.

“We had no other choice. I mean, it was, opt out, go to the state option, or go back to the building, and going back to the building was the best option for us because of the uneven education services offered by the program virtual state, and no service in homeschooling,” Alexander explained.

Alexander said it was stressful to have so many cases in the district so soon.

“It’s scary to know that it’s continuing at this rate and it’s the highest they’ve seen,” she said.

But she is glad the district is taking steps to ensure anyone who may have been exposed should stay home.

“I’m glad the kids are wearing masks and precautions are being taken because I think it would probably be a lot higher than that without it,” Alexander said.

The district expects to receive new guidelines and protocols from the state within days.