More than 200 students in Georgia are quarantining after the district's first week open saw several test positive for coronavirus

• More than 200 students in a Georgia public school district have been placed in quarantine after 11 schools have reported cases of coronavirus, according to the school district.
• The Cherokee County School District reopened for in-person teaching on Monday.
• On Tuesday, the second day of instruction, the school district reported that a second-grade student tested positive for coronavirus.
• The school district's superintendent lauded the first week of reopening as an "amazing milestone," and said the district makes decisions "not based on what people in New York or Kansas think."
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More than 200 students in a Georgia public school district are in quarantine within a week of reopening for in-person instruction.

The Cherokee County School District reopened for in-person teaching on Monday with an option for students to enroll in the school district's digital learning program, per the school board's decision in July. Within the first week of reopening, the school district has reported 11 schools with confirmed cases of coronavirus and has placed more than 200 students in quarantine, according to school notification letters posted on the school district website.

On Tuesday, the second day of instruction, the school district reported that a second-grade student who was in class on Monday tested positive for coronavirus. A teacher and 20 other peers who shared classroom space with the student has been placed in quarantine for two weeks, according to the notice.

Since then, the school district has reported that several other students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels have tested positive for coronavirus.

The district's superintendent Dr. Brian V. Hightower capped off the week with a message to the community on Friday that acknowledged the district's response to the cases and called the fifth day of school "an amazing milestone."

He wrote that the school district's decisions to reopen are "not based on what people in New York or Kansas think" and that it does not "care about 'optics' or 'image'" but rather what's "best" for the community. As for how long the schools will remain open, he wrote in the letter that "the answer will depend on all of us as a community."

Hightower did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Despite other districts in the state making alternative plans to instruct students in the fall, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has pushed for the reopening of public schools and last week argued school reopenings could keep students safe "from a nutrition standpoint, child abuse, human trafficking," NPR reported.

• Read more:
• A Georgia high school has canceled the suspension of a teen who posted a photo of unmasked students crowding the halls
• Oklahoma won't require masks in schools, so a teacher who's a 72-year-old cancer survivor is offering students extra credit to wear them
• An emergency medicine physician projects that if schools open in the fall, they'll close by the end of October with COVID-19 outbreaks
• Mounting research paints a bleak picture for schools trying to reopen. Most large schools can expect coronavirus cases within 1 week.

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