ATLANTA — The first day of school for Fulton County is August 17 and families have the option of continuing virtual learning or heading back to the classroom.
Sydney Harrison, a soon-to-be-senior at Chattahoochee High School, is going back to the classroom.
“A lot of my friends and a lot of people at my school are concerned about going back,” she told 11Alive.
She’s concerned, too, after district officials announced at a meeting two weeks ago a mandate for school staff to wear masks but only recommending it for students.
“I feel like it is a big risk to take by not having masks mandated because a lot of people don’t have the option to do online school. I just wonder why make staff wear them and make people wear them on the bus but not mandate them in the building,” said Harrison.
So, she’s taking action, creating a GoFundMe to buy reusable masks for every student in the district.
Fulton County Schools has about 94,000 students and is the fourth largest school system in the state.
Although there is a large student body, Harrison’s confident she can reach the $40,000 goal to get the masks.
“I feel like as a community it’s our job to kind of step up right now because we can’t wait on officials or higher ups because the virus won’t wait,” she said.
She feels their job is to keep everyone safe.
“If we’re going to go back to school we might as well do it right to protect everyone,” Harrison said.
Harrison told 11Alive she’s already in touch with a supplier that has agreed to supply all the masks if she reaches the financial goal.
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