York and Clover students to learn from home on days before Thanksgiving break
Students in York School District 1 and Clover School District will not be in the classroom next week.
The two districts in York County are making Monday (Nov. 23) and Tuesday (Nov. 24) before the start of Thanksgiving break Remote Learning days, district public information officers told The Herald on Wednesday.
They’re doing it to help prevent a student or staff member from inadvertently putting family members at risk of COVID-19 exposure as they gather during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
“There is time involved when anyone — not necessarily a student or staff member, but anyone — has symptoms, gets tested and receives results,” York School District 1 spokesperson Tim Cooper told The Herald. “Then there’s time involved between when they receive those results and when contract tracing occurs, and we are notified by DHEC of a positive case that may impact our schools.”
Cooper added: “The scenario when someone could be exposed on a Tuesday and we do not find out until Friday? It’s too late at that point.”
Emails and text messages about the plan went out to York School District 1 parents on Monday, Cooper said, and the district office has been following up with additional information throughout this week.
Clover School District Superintendent Sheila Quinn communicated a similar plan — that the district will implement Remote Learning days on Monday and Tuesday of next week — in a statement on the district’s website last week.
“The purpose is two-fold,” Quinn wrote in a statement. “First, it will allow the last day on campus to be Wednesday, Thursday (A/B day students) or Friday (elementary students) of the week before Thanksgiving. If we have any positive cases or have to quarantine any close contacts, our nurses will have time to notify families who may need to avoid gathering with more vulnerable family members for Thanksgiving Day.”
The districts made this decision while positive coronavirus cases surge throughout York County. On Wednesday, York County reported 98 confirmed cases, the seventh-highest daily coronavirus new-case count since the pandemic began to spread.
This total comes days after other peaks: On Saturday, York County added 122 COVID-19 cases (second-highest total), and on Tuesday, the county recorded 118 (third-highest total).
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