DeKalb School District Reported 7 Positive Cases of COVID Friday with 27 Under Quarantine

November 21, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County School District reported 7 positive cases of COVID on Friday, November 19, equal to the number of cases reported the previous week.

There were 5 positive cases on Monday, November 15 and all 5 were at DeKalb West School. By Friday, November 19 there were 7 cases district-wide including 6 at DeKalb West School and 1 at Smithville Elementary School.

The number of those under quarantine started out at 27 on Monday, November 15, dropped to 21 by Wednesday, November 17, but went back up to 27 as of Friday, November 19.

According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, there were 11 under quarantine at DeKalb West School, 5 at DCHS, 4 each at DeKalb Middle School and Smithville Elementary and 3 at Northside Elementary School for a total of 27 on Monday, November 15. By Friday, November 19 the number was still 27 district-wide including 10 at DeKalb West School, 6 at DCHS, 4 each at Smithville Elementary and DeKalb Middle School, and 3 at Northside Elementary.

The district reported 1 absence among the staff on Friday, November 19 due to a positive case or quarantine and that was at DeKalb West School.

Meanwhile the number of active COVID cases in DeKalb County as of Friday, November 19 was 34 (up from 32 a week earlier) with 5 new cases.

There have been 76 deaths in DeKalb County since the pandemic began in March 2020 (up by 1 since Friday, November 12) and 114 have been hospitalized.

At last report a total of 8,880 people (43.3%) have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine and 7,773 (37.9%) are fully vaccinated in DeKalb County according to the CDC COVID Tracker Data.

Over the last seven days, (November 12- 18) DeKalb County had a case count of 16 for a daily case rate of 11.2 per 100,000 residents.

For the most recent 14 days, (November 5-November 18) DeKalb County’s case count was 38 for a daily case rate of 13.2 per 100,000 residents.

For the 14 days prior (October 22 to November 14), the case count was 46 for a daily case rate of 16 per 100, 000 residents.

From March 5, 2020 to November 18, 2021, DeKalb County has had a total of 4,264 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 for a daily case rate of 33.4 per 100,000 residents.

Over the last 7 days the average percent positive was 4.5%.

November 21, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Both the DCHS Tigers and Lady Tigers are now 2-0 to begin the 2021-22 basketball campaign with victories at Whitehouse and Gordonsville last week in the annual Hall of Champions.

The Lady Tigers defeated Gordonsville on Saturday, November 20 by the score of 64 to 32 while the DC Tigers knocked off the Gordonsville Tigers 59 to 51. On Tuesday, November 16, the Lady Tigers topped Whitehouse 60 to 54 and the Tigers took down the Blue Devils of Whitehouse 74 to 61.

In the girls game Saturday, DC led 20 to 8 after the 1st period, 36 to 24 at halftime, and 51 to 29 after the 3rd period before going on to win 64 to 32.

Ella VanVranken led in scoring DeKalb County with 14 points followed by Avery Agee 12, Kadee Ferrell and Madison Martin each with 10, Natalie Snipes 9, Xharia Lyons 5, and Dare Collins and Ally Fuller each with 2.

For the boys, DeKalb County took a 14 to 8 lead over Gordonsville after the 1st period and led 29 to 21 at halftime and 44 to 29 after the 3rd period before notching a 59 to 51 victory.

Conner Close scored 18 for DC followed by Brayden Antoniak 12, Robert Wheeler 9, Elishah Ramos 7, Jordan Young 5, Stetson Agee 4, and Zack Birmingham and Alex Antoniak each with 2.

On Tuesday night at Whitehouse, Kadee Ferrell scored 34 of DeKalb County’s 60 points to lead the Lady Tigers to a 60 to 54 victory.

The Lady Tigers led 14 to 10 after the 1st period, 30 to 20 at halftime, and 43 to 36 after the 3rd period before going on to win 60 to 54.

Six Lady Tigers scored in single digits including Ella VanVranken 7, Natalie Snipes 6, Madison Martin 5, Cam Branin 4, and Avery Agee and Xharia Lyons each with 2.

Meanwhile Sophomore Conner Close scored 29 points as the Tigers topped Whitehouse 74 to 61 Tuesday night.

DC led 19 to 4 after the 1st period but trailed 31 to 30 at halftime and 53 to 50 after the 3rd period before taking the lead in the 4th period and the win 74 to 61.

Stetson Agee scored 11. Brayden Antoniak and Jordan Young each scored 10. Elishah Ramos 7, Isaac Knowles and Zach Birmingham each with 3 and Alex Antoniak 1.

DeKalb County will close out the November portion of the schedule this week with the home opener against Cannon County Tuesday night, November 23 and a trip to Warren County Friday night, November 26. Tip-off of the girls game each night is at 6 p.m. followed by the boys game. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

November 20, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A former Maintenance Supervisor for the DeKalb County School District was recently given a lifetime member award from the Tennessee School Plant Management Association.

Earl Jared received the honor during a meeting held in Sumner County on Friday, November 12. Joining Jared for the presentation were Andy Brown, Assistant Director of Schools in Sumner County; Aaron Young, Maintenance Supervisor for the DeKalb County School District, Bill Shedden, President of TSPMA, and Debbie Shedden, Executive Director of TSPMA.

The TSPMA serves school plant managers of Tennessee by offering training, networking, and guidance in helping them keep schools in the best possible condition for the children and educators of Tennessee.

Jared earned the “Lifetime Member Recipient Award” for his 26 years of dedicated service to the DeKalb County School District and TSPMA

From the early 1990’s until his retirement in 2019, the board of education and school administrators counted on Jared’s experience and expertise in ensuring that all school owned buildings were up and running smoothly when it came to heating and cooling, lighting, refrigeration, etc.

“The main thing I tried to do was put the children first and do everything I could to make them safe and in a comfortable environment. My job was to keep the buildings and kitchens going with air, lights, heat, and to make sure the roofs didn’t leak. I also had the responsibility of making sure we got our money’s worth out of construction projects. I always had good employees and we tried to do our best for the system and the children,” said Jared.