STATENVILLE — Echols County school officials have decided to delay the start of the school year due to a shortage of available staff, largely because of the pandemic. 

In a Facebook posting Tuesday, the school system said the start of school will be delayed from Aug. 6 to Aug. 16. The open house for the school system was delayed from Aug. 4 to Aug. 11 from 4-6 p.m., the posting said.

The shortage of available teachers, bus drivers and other school personnel was due largely to COVID-19 illnesses and not due to employment problems with staff and faculty, said Echols County School Superintendent Shannon King.

About 865 students in all grade levels — elementary, middle school and high school — will be affected, King said.

“I don’t expect (the Aug. 16 start date) to change,” she said.

Students coming back to school will be required to wear masks inside school buses thanks to an executive order by President Joe Biden, King said. The school system will not require kids to wear masks in class, but it will be encouraged, she said.

“We are following the guidance of the (Georgia Department of Public Health),” King said.

All softball games for the week of August 6-13 will be rescheduled.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.