‘The first day has gone well.’ Fort Mill School district kicks off the year.
A new school opened, masked children and teachers arrived across the district and school is now back in session.
The Fort Mill School District opened 10 elementary — an 11th, River Trail, will open mid-year — five middle and three high schools Monday. New this fall is Kings Town Elementary School. Joe Burke, district spokesperson, said early Monday afternoon there weren’t any major transportation or scheduling issues.
“The first day has gone well,” he said.
At the final school board meeting earlier this month before Fort Mill students returned Monday, superintendent Chuck Epps and other district officials described a mix of excitement, caution, uncertainty, eagerness.
So, basically all the first day of school emotions. Just in a year that promises to be unlike any before it.
“Of course we’re concerned,” Epps said. “We want to maintain the health of everybody, but we are excited going in. We miss the children. We miss the interaction with our students, and we’re looking forward to going from this point.”
COVID-19 sent public schools online in March. Districts spent the time since planning for their return. COVID-19 delayed that return. York and Clover schools started a week ago. Fort Mill schools start Monday, and Rock Hill schools begin in full a week later.
Epps said his district is optimistic, while he recognizes the Fort Mill School District has more students than the Clover and York districts that already started, combined.
“It’ll be interesting to see how all that plays out,” Epps said.
Fort Mill officials continue to eye coronavirus case count trends, which in recent weeks have been well lower than what they were in July. Fort Mill like other districts begins the school year with full virtual and hybrid school models, where students alternate in-person and online instruction. Plans could change depending of COVID-19 spikes in either direction.
“We are monitoring it in the event we go back face-to-face, or we go any other direction,” Epps said. “So we are looking at that on a weekly basis, daily actually.”
The Fort Mill School District is just shy of 17,000 students now. Almost 70% of those student chose an in-person option. The older the student, the more likely he or she was to go in-person. Still, virtual enrollment of more than 5,000 students is high for a district that didn’t have an all virtual option prior to the pandemic.
“One in four high school students and one in three or so of the others,” said Marty McGinn, district superintendent. “So it’s a lot of virtual kids.”
Elementary schools range from 47% virtual at Gold Hill to 25% at Orchard Park and 26% at Tega Cay. Middle schools range from 31 to 33%. Catawba Ridge High School is 21% virtual, compared to Nation Ford 25% and Fort Mill at 26% virtual.
Planning for a high level educational experience both for in-person and virtual students during a pandemic hasn’t been easy.
“Every requirement, every law, every policy, every logistical piece that it takes to run a school district, has had to be rethought, redesigned — times two,” McGinn said.
Things will be different
Peter Olinger, director of elementary education, said parents and students would notice changes from the moment they arrive.
“The car rider line is always kind of a thing at the beginning of the year,” he said. “It’s a whole new system as far as dismissing our kids.”
Elementary students will dismiss straight from classrooms using smartboard technology and communication, one of many changes this year to help avoid large gathering spots for students and staff. Elementary students also will have breakfast and lunch in the classroom, and related arts teachers will come to them.
In-person students will start on an alternating basis — middle and high school will keep that schedule the whole year — with A and B days for school and virtual learning. Younger students also will start with LEAP days, approved by the state to acclimate and assess students related to coronavirus changes.
While in-person elementary school students will end up going five days, the alternating schedule allows them to get in the flow of school.
“We’ve had to pretty much reinvent every aspect and procedure at an elementary school that accounts for all the new safety measures,” Olinger said. “By dividing those classes in half, bringing them in on A and B days, we’re going to have a lot of time to get our 5-year-olds up through our 10-year-olds up to speed on that.”
Virtual students will follow the same daily schedules as in-person students. Device pickup for virtual students in need of them is Monday.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 9:13 AM.
