Most of Ohio’s K-12 schools have only been in class for a few days, but already there are signs COVID-19 might be causing problems for some of them.
Students in the Athens City School District rely on 18 bus drivers. But Athens Superintendent Tom Gibbs says the district doesn’t have enough drivers to operate.
“We now have five drivers that have test positive for COVID, and we have a 6th that is a close contact and is in quarantine," Gibbs said.
Gibbs said he didn’t have any choice but to close schools this week to give the drivers time to recover. Some other school districts throughout the state are also closing for a while because of COVID. Still, others are dealing with high absentee rates from teachers and students.
Athens City Schools requires students to wear masks in the building and on buses. But some school districts don’t have that policy in place. Last spring, the statewide mask policy was in place for schools until the end of the school year. But Gov. Mike DeWine says there’s no appetite for a statewide policy like that now so it’s up to school districts to decide whether to require masks be worn inside school buildings. Some districts that began the year without requiring masks have changed their policies in recent days to require masks be worn, at least temporarily, while the COVID spread poses a problem.
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