CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — Monday is the first day back to school for families in Camden County.
Parents say they hope the school community can learn from last year so that this second school year in the pandemic can be better.
Masks are required at school until the COVID-19 positivity rate goes down in the county. Right now the positivity rate is over 25%.
Parents are told to pre-screen their children before each school day, and extracurricular activities must follow specific guidelines. To do virtual learning this year, students have to unenroll from the Camden County school district and do it through another school system.
District representatives say they hired 80 new teachers to allow for smaller class sizes and add more guidance counselors for mental health help.
Samuel Preble and his mother are excited for Samuel's senior year at Camden County High School.
"I liked it," he said about high school. "I had a really good experience in high school. I made a lot of friends and made a lot of connections
with people."
Preble is vaccinated, but Kiisa Kennedy's grandson heads back to school too, and he's too young for a vaccine. Kennedy worries about the number of people refusing to get vaccinated.
"You can still impact somebody else and they don't seem to care," she said. "That breaks my heart because I don't want to be responsible sending a neighbor to the hospital or my grandchild."
Kennedy says she wants more information from the school district this year about who must quarantine. She claims she wasn't told when her son's teacher quarantined due to exposure last year.
In Camden County, 10,000 students and 1,200 teachers and staff head back Monday. The school district encourages everyone who can, which is everyone over age 12, to get vaccinated.