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Guilford County Schools Addresses Concerns From COVID To HVAC

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Sharon Contreras and other district staff answer questions during a back-to-school media briefing on Thursday, August 26, 2021. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Guilford County Schools officials are raising alarm bells about aging infrastructure in the system. One school has already had to close early this week, and that's just an example of the many challenges the district is facing this year.

Jamestown Middle School was dismissed early on Thursday after the air conditioning stopped working. Superintendent Dr. Sharon Contreras says about 540 work orders have been put forward by schools for HVAC issues in buildings.

She says the uptick is due to high temperatures, pandemic-related delays for parts, and old buildings.

“We have some buildings that are 100 years old and we are trying to maintain these systems where we don't even have parts for them and the students are trying to learn in these buildings some with asthma and other preexisting conditions,” says Contreras.

District officials say they can't use fans because of COVID-19, but they are working with principals to keep kids safe and proactively moving them around if needed and exploring other alternatives.

Contreras says the school board will be discussing capital needs and she expects a bond referendum proposal for next year will be part of that discussion.

At a press conference, Contreras also addressed what she called unprecedented car lines for student pickup and drop-off since fewer people are riding buses, as well as a bus driver shortage.

Despite the challenges, GCS says it's starting off on a good foot. As of Tuesday, more than 64,000 students are enrolled, and that number is growing. There are also zero teacher vacancies as the new school year begins, thanks to a large recruitment effort that used federal COVID relief funding to offer bonuses and other incentives.

As for COVID metrics, currently 224 students are in quarantine. Of that number, 99 are student athletes.

The district says it will begin mandatory testing for unvaccinated student athletes and for unvaccinated students who participate in high-risk extracurricular activities including marching band, chorus and dance. The testing requirement also applies to unvaccinated coaches and sponsors in these areas.

Contreras says the universal mask requirement will remain in place and the school board will reevaluate that policy in 10 weeks. The district is also working with local health officials to host vaccination clinics on some campuses.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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