The Henry County Board of Education has updated COVID-19 protocols for the district, loosening restrictions in some areas after recent actions and recommendations by state officials.

At a May 3 special called meeting, the board received from superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis a list of updates that included seating capacity increases from 33 to 50 percent at outdoor events and from 25 to 33 percent at indoor events. The Performing Arts Center at Fairview is being opened for community use, and the McDonough facility will also be available once its current renovations are complete.

Community use of facilities rentals for outdoor spaces at all school campuses is now permitted, and school-sponsored summer camps will be able to open for on-campus operations. At all outdoor spaces and activities, including graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021, masks will be optional.

“After navigating this worldwide pandemic since February and March of 2020, this is a tremendous step forward to getting our school district back toward some normalcy that we were accustomed to prior to having to change everything about how we provided a high-quality education to our students and families,” said Davis. “We don’t take these latest actions lightly, and they come after close review of our local health metrics and updated guidance from our trusted health partners and state government officials.”

School district officials will continue to monitor and review all health-related data and guidance from the CDC, District 4 Public Health, and our local hospital officials and medical professionals.

“We are so excited to be taking these steps for our district because it shows that the hard work and decisions of our district to ensure the health and safety of our school community have made a positive impact, and we can now move in this direction to ease some of the restrictions that were put in place,” said board chair Holly Cobb. “We are looking forward to being able to provide more updates to our mitigation protocols in the near future.”

Any school community members with questions regarding the updated easements of limitations can contact their school or visit henry.k12.ga.us for more information.