Superintendent sets bar for reopening Memphis classrooms: daily case counts consistently in single digits

Shelby County Schools buildings will remain closed for students until the daily tally of new coronavirus cases in the county declines to single digits for two weeks, Superintendent Joris Ray told reporters Monday.

“We want the curve to flatten,” he said from a mostly empty Highland Oaks Middle School, where teachers opted to conduct online classes from the building. “It’s about not contributing to the community spread.”

Ray’s statement during a press conference on the first day of online classes is the most specific indication he has shared about when Shelby County Schools’ 95,000 students might return to school buildings. The threshold is not as strict as a demand from teacher protesters who called for keeping all classes online until the county reported no new coronavirus cases for 14 days.

https://tn.chalkbeat.org/2020/8/31/21409454/scs-sets-bar-for-reopening-classrooms-daily-coronavirus-case-counts