Here’s how the fall semester will look for Rock Hill school district students.
Rock Hill school district students can return to classrooms in the fall.
The Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees voted Monday night to approve a proposal that would bring students back in August on an alternating “A/B-day schedule.” The district’s return-to-school task force, made up of about 80 members, presented its recommendation for the school year to the board during a virtual meeting.
The proposal, which passed in a 7-0 vote, will require half of the schools’ students to come on one day, and the other half of the students will come the next day.
Students will have two days of face-to-face instruction Tuesday through Friday. Mondays will be considered a “C-day” for students who need to come in for extra help or to meet in small groups, officials said.
District principals and administrative staff will work to ensure siblings are not on separate A/B-day schedules, said Luanne Kokolis, the district’s chief officer of strategic planning, engagement, and program support.
“Every consideration will be taken to keep the siblings together or family groups together,” Kokolis said.
The district’s lead clinical nurse Sadie Kirell said students and staff will be expected to wear masks at the start of the school year. The district will provide masks to students who may need one, she said.
Rock Hill schools also will offer a virtual learning academy for families who want to keep their children at home. The virtual academy will be offered to students in kindergarten through 12th grade and will follow the regular school calendar, said John Jones, chief academic and accountability officer.
“This is different from what happened in the spring,” Jones said. “What we want to offer is an academy approach that is going to have more structure. It’s going to have more organization, communication.”
Jones said the district has provided laptops to students in third through 12th grade, and school officials will provide laptops to students in kindergarten through second grade if needed. The district also is working with T-Mobile to offer hot spots for families who may not have internet, Jones said.
“If there is a need for a computer, we are going to make that available to our students,” Jones said.
Registration for the academy will open later this week.
Superintendent Bill Cook said the district’s goal has been for all students to return in the fall but, based on the rising number of cases in the county and guidelines from the Department of Health and Environmental Control, that goal was altered.
“What we do know is, based on the current guidelines, that we cannot return to school fully and keep our students and our teachers safe,” Cook said. “We believe — with all the protocols and practices that have been put into place — that we can ensure as much as humanly possible, that the model of a 50, 50 or A-day, B-day split to start the school year is the best place for our school district to begin.”
The task force’s recommendation was based in part on a survey sent to parents in the last month, Kokolis said. About 9,750 parents responded, Kokolis said.
Survey results showed that 48% of parents were in favor of a hybrid A-day/B-day schedule and 78% of parents were in favor of virtual learning sessions between Thanksgiving and winter break, Kokolis said.
The school board also approved the 2020-2021 calendar. All students will begin school on August 17, school officials said.
Through funding from the federal CARES Act, elementary and middle school students will have an additional five days of school at the end of the year.
The last day of school for high school students will be May 25 and the last day for elementary and middle school students will be June 2.
The district will release its full plans for the school year next week.
