The two councils previously passed a resolution in December 2021.
UNION COUNTY, NC – Union County leaders are continuing their efforts to see contact tracing and quarantine requirements due to the end of COVID-19 for North Carolina public school students.
The County Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners held a joint meeting on Tuesday, January 25 and passed a resolution stating that both boards reaffirm their support for stopping the measures, regardless of any action taken by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Resources. Services (NCDHHS).
According to the resolution, the two councils “plan changes to our approach to school quarantine and contact tracing when we determine that cases in Union County are declining in the current outbreak.”
Tuesday’s meeting comes just over a month after the two councils voted in favor of a resolution calling on NCDHHS to end contact tracing and quarantine protocols by Jan. 19. The NCDHHS has established guidelines and recommendations for districts to follow across the state as they deal with COVID-19.
RELATED: Union County Leaders File Joint Resolution Urging State to End Quarantine, Contact Tracing Protocols for Public School Students
In the latest resolution passed, the boards acknowledged “there have been subsequent updates to the state’s Strong Schools Toolkit that reduce quarantine and isolation timelines, and we applaud the change. direction in politics and the tone these changes reflect”.
The resolution then reads, “however, there is still no end in sight to quarantine and contact tracing or even the prospect of NCDHHS.”
Officials at Tuesday’s meeting mentioned that the new wave of COVID-19 cases is due to the omicron variant. They also reiterated that the virus “is not going away” and that “we are going to have to learn to live with it in a way that does not unreasonably risk our children’s education and mental health,” according to the resolution.
Members of both councils are expected to modify the approach to school quarantine and contact tracing procedures when they determine that cases in Union County are declining in the current outbreak.
The changes should be developed in the coming weeks and will be made public.
“Our goal will be to develop a collaborative approach that allows children to stay in school if they are not positive or symptomatic,” read part of the resolution.
RELATED: LIST: K-12 schools in Charlotte area districts making decisions about masks, vaccines and remote learning
WCNC Charlotte has contacted NCDHHS for a statement on the resolution.
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