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Continued From 1A THURSDAY. MARCH 3. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A Daycare erbated parents want those guidelines removed and have the illness treated like the flu or cold. These parents have to find other childcare or stay home from work and possi bly lose income if their kid’s class is quarantined. The Progress has had several par ents express their frustration with the system. One parent wonders why daycare guide lines are “behind” those for public schools. The COVID quarantine requirements for daycares began at 14 days at the begin ning of the pandemic, and was later reduced to 10 days. It has recently been reduced to a five-day period, includ ing children who are exposed and not only for those chil dren who test positive. Since the COVID pandemic began, Mullins has separated her classes into age groups and keeps them isolated to miti gate spread. If there is a pos itive case, the entire class has to quarantine for five days. (For the child or teacher who tests positive, Mullins re quires that person quarantine for a full 10 days). When a class quarantines, she doesn’t make the parent pay tuition, but that parent will still most likely be out of work. “Losing tuition hurts us fi nancially, but I feel like it’s fair,” Mullins said. “It’s so hard for these parents. The whole reason we are here as a daycare is so parents can work. I know at least one par ent who was demoted be cause she’s missed work, which is terrible. I sit here on pins and needles at night hop ing I don’t get a message from a parent that we’ve got a positive case.” If that does happen, Mullins has to message par ents immediately to alert them that their child’s class is quarantined. Sometimes that happens at night, “and the parent might not see the mes sage until they wake up. It’s a real inconvenience to them.” Mullins also has to record and track everything COVID-quarantine related and send it to Bright from the Start and the Georgia Depart ment of Public Health. “Surprisingly, I haven’t had parents get angry with me to my face and bless me out when I have to quaran tine,” she said. “And I ex pected it, for sure, because I understand it’s frustrating for them.” Mullins estimates that her two pre-k classes have been quarantined at least three times each during the pan demic; her two-year old class at least twice; her one-year- old class at least three times; and her three- and four-year old classes at least four times each. This January she had two classes quarantine nearly back to back. She said they have had to quarantine more as the pandemic rolled on. “That first year of the pan demic we actually quaran tined very little,” she said. “And before the Omicron variant I could bet my life that in this daycare no one transmitted it to anyone else. Now with Omicron I can’t say that 100 percent, but I’m still fairly sure with the way the timing of cases worked out. Still, we’ve had more quarantines later in the pan demic by far.” The Progress got in touch with the North Georgia Health District, which is part of the Georgia Department of Public Health, about the issue. When asked why day cares are still required to quarantine measures when public school systems are not, Ashley Deverell, NGHD immunization coordinator, said there isn’t much they can do locally to change those procedures. “These policies were cre ated by state leadership in collaboration with the [Cen ters for Disease Control],” she said. “We try to assist fa cilities with this guidance, but guidelines are not made at the local level. Often, childcare guidance differs from K-12 guidance due to the age of population and those limitations in mask ing. . .Under state administra tive orders, K-12 settings were allowed to use optional strategies for quarantining students. Childcare and col lege settings were not in cluded in this administrative order.” When asked if there is any indication of when and if those quarantine/isolation guidelines will be changed or removed, NGHD Public In formation Officer Jennifer King said at this point they do not know. “Because of the shifting nature of COVID-19, it’s dif ficult for us on the local level to anticipate upcoming pol icy changes,” King said. “But we do work closely with schools and childcare centers to assist them, as needed, in following the latest state guidelines.” Continued From 1A Absent the news regularly [looking for COVID information]. We have five weeks until spring break which had a lot of peo ple worried last year but did n’t do much with COVID numbers then.” Both Young and school board member Tommy Gartrell said that the public may be encouraged to see the improved virus situation, even if it proves to be a brief hiatus. Gartrell said there is so much bad news all the time, he had been excited to hear the zero number. Young said the trend had been moving downward since a high point in late-Jan- uary where they saw well over 170 cases on several days and approached the 200 case level. Two days of school had to be moved vir tual after COVID ran amuck with the transportation de partment, leaving the system without enough drivers to run the buses. Young said since January, the pandemic had mainly af fected students, not staff. “This one hit students harder,” he said. “We have better than 70 percent vacci nation among staff and that may have been a key or maybe it just hit kids.” Like much regarding COVID and this school year, Young said nothing has an easy answer nor has it been predictable. “We had pre pared for a normal school year,” Young said. “And then BAM we had high cases at the start and then it went back to normal, then right at Christmas BAM again. All we can do is plan and have contingencies in place.” One new plan with trans portation is the school system will not close the entire sys tem again. Should they be left without enough drivers, they will operate the elemen tary schools and middle school and put the Junior High and High School on vir tual learning with students at home and campuses closed. “This would be a last re sort if we do this again and I hope we never do,” the su perintendent said of the trans portation-forced closure. “We’ll take half kids out of the cycle, and we should al ways be able transport with only half.” Young said they consider it of primary importance to have the youngest students on campus to not create as many child care issues for parents. And the youngest students struggle the most with learning from home. In general, Young is hop ing that by keeping campuses open as much as possible, Pickens will regain some lost ground on their test scores which fell dramatically in the previous year when cam puses were closed more often. BRING EVERYTHING YOU LOVE TOGETHER! Blazing Fast Internet! ADD TO YOUR PACKAGE FOR ONLY <3-SI Q 99 7 I y*/mo. Chase ends in arrest of Dahlonega man Book-In Photo/Pickens County Sheriff Randall Holbert Gal loway was arrested after at tempting to elude officers. His vehicle crashed off Robin Road, loca ted just off Camp Road/A. W. Lawson Blvd. in Jasper. By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com A Dahlonega man was ar rested and charged with sev eral counts related to drug possession, reckless driving and unlawful possession of a firearm after fleeing from Pickens Sheriff’s deputies last Friday, Feb. 25. The incident occurred at approximately 3 p.m. when a deputy patrolling in the Robin Road area observed the driver of a 2002 Honda Accord not wearing a seatbelt and fail to use a turn signal. When the deputy pulled be hind the vehicle, it drove recklessly at a high-rate of speed in a highly populated residential area. The vehicle’s tires left the roadway several times and failed to maintain its lane, nearly striking an on coming vehicle. At this time the deputy turned on his siren, and the vehicle nearly struck children on an all-ter rain vehicle. The Honda eventually crashed on the left side of Robin Road in trees next to the roadway. The driver of the vehicle, Randall Holbert Galloway, 57, opened the driver’s door immediately after impact in a way that indicated to the deputy he would flee on foot. Then, “[Galloway] did not immediately exit the vehicle, causing [the deputy] to be alarmed,” according to the incident report. The deputy then drew his firearm and pointed it at the suspect, which appeared to be sitting in a manner “in dicative of someone who was cradling a weapon.” The deputy gave loud ver bal commands for Galloway to exit the vehicle. When asked if he had any weapons, Galloway stated he had a gun. The deputy continued to give loud verbal commands “to which Randall was slow and hesitant to respond.” The deputy had Galloway lay on his stomach and held him at gunpoint until backup arrived. One resident who wit nessed the incident said he “just about jumped out of his skin,” but is glad no one was injured. A search of the vehicle found a loaded Taurus .357 Magnum revolver in the front seat, a tin canister containing a glass pipe with suspected methamphetamine, two loaded syringes with clear liquid, less than one ounce of marijuana, 25 Alprazolam pills, four oxycodone pills, a scale, and three individual baggies of suspected methamphetamines totaling 8 grams. A test determined Gal loway was driving under the influence at the time of the incident. The suspect was ar rested and transported to Pickens County Adult Deten tion Center. Clear, Pure Water. The way it should be. Do you know what’s in your water? We do. And we can make it safe and clean for you. tj Get to know the Marine Corps League The Marine Corps League, North Georgia Mountains, De tachment 1280, Jasper, Ga. invites all active, reserve, retired and honorably discharged Marines and FMF Corpsman to get to know the members and consider joining them. The Marine Corps League Detachment 1280 foremost provides assistance to Marines, Corpsman and their families. We participate in Toys for Tots, assist other veterans groups within the community, support Boy Scouts programs, support young Marines, provide scholarships to high school students, and hold fundraisers throughout the year. We celebrate the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball and other historic Marine Corps events. We commemorate fallen Marines, host socials, and assist a needy family during Thanksgiving and Christmas. For more information on the Marine Corps League, what it does, and how you can join, call 706-253-0459 or email USMC1280@gmail.com Attention Seniors Come join other senior citizens to play the card game Pinochle at the Pickens Sen ior Center open each week day from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. WATER DIAGNOSIS CALL 888-604-8043 , M, <2 : Our quality* and service are 100% > guaranteed. Just ask our customers. eJrolltfaterFjJier SMj(% Weight Loss Group Choose to Lose - Weight loss group meets at the Pick ens County Community Cen ter Room #1 every Friday morning. Weigh in time is be tween 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Meeting runs from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. No charge. Call Pat Groves for more informa tion at 1-417-413-8025. Jasper Lions Club The Jasper Lions Club meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at 7 p.m. in Walker Hall at the First Baptist Church of Jasper. 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Board of Commissioners Called Meeting March 3, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. in the Commission Conference Room - Ste. 168 The Pickens County Board of Commissioners will have a Called Meeting for the purpose described below immediately following the Board of Commis sioner’s Work Session at 4:30 pm on Thursday, March 3, 2022 in Suite 168 of the Administrative Office Building located at 1266 East Church Street. AGENDA I. Call to Order II. Field and answer questions to determine if Cutoff Road is serving a purpose or should it be removed from County maintenance. III. General Comments IV. Adjourn Board of Commissioners Work Session March 3, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. in the Commission Conference Room - Ste. 168 Items for Discussion: 1. Employee Updates 2. General Discussion 3. Adjourn Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting March 3, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in the Commission Conference Room - Ste. 168 I. Call to order II. Prayer III. Pledge of Allegiance IV. Amendments to Agenda V. Employee Recognitions VI. Executive Session VII. Approval of Executive Session Minutes VIII. Consent Agenda IX. Old Business X. New Business A. Appointment of Chairman to the Board of Elections B. Announcement of Fire Chief C. Resolution and Host Fee and Landfill Operation Agreement XI. Action Items A. Approve Minutes * Regular Meeting - February 17, 2022 * Work Session - February 17, 2022 XII. Rezones RZ-190246 - Ryan & Rebecca Prather 216 Flea Market Rd. Jasper HB to RR Parcel #053B-019-001 6.25-Acres RZ-190266 - MSMD LLC, R. Gary Copeland 1150 Sandy Bottom Rd. Jasper AG to HB Parcel #051-033 238.31-Acres XIII. Guests/Comments XIV. Adjourn