Forsyth County Schools announced it will be returning to "normal operating procedures" beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 23, due to a drop in COVID-19 case numbers.

Currently, the school system has three major mitigation measures in place: limited visitors inside school buildings; mandated quarantine for symptomatic students; and the strong recommendation that students and staff wear masks on campuses.

In a week, however, the district plans to return to a normal school year for staff and students. FCS stated that principals will be sharing school-specific details with parents and guardians soon. FCS stated that it also returned to normal operating procedures after the Thanksgiving break in 2021.

The district will not be contact tracing or reporting school COVID-19 case numbers online from Feb. 18-22 during the student holiday.

“Strong parental engagement and volunteerism is one of the reasons our students achieve at such a high level at FCS,” Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden wrote in a statement. “I am thankful that our COVID data has dropped enough to resume normal operations. We are excited to have our parents/guardians and volunteers return to our campuses."

COVID-19 cases throughout Georgia have steadily dropped over the last few weeks after spiking through the winter holidays. COVID-19 cases within FCS reached its peak so far in 2022 in late January with 440 active cases. It has since followed the statewide trend, lowering to 60 active cases as of Wednesday morning, according to FCS' daily reports available on its website, www.forsyth.k12.ga.us.

"FCS will continue to monitor our data daily throughout this school year," Bearden stated. "As always, we will be prepared to pivot if the data dictates that we do so. Thank you for your patience, understanding and support throughout these past two years. I encourage our community to remain vigilant.”