After COVID-19 summer, Rock Hill schools are set for their first day. What to know.
Six months since South Carolina public school buildings closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, two months since districts across the state submitted their return-to-school plans and two weeks since the Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees approved a mask-wearing policy — the Rock Hill School District is set to hit another milestone on Tuesday.
It’ll be the first day of school.
Based on previous coverage by The Herald of Rock Hill school board meetings and other York County school district first days of school, here’s what you need to know.
Many families opt for virtual learning
Just over 39% of the Rock Hill School District’s 17,022 students will participate in the Rock Hill Schools Virtual Academy, district spokesman Mychal Frost told The Herald last week.
As of Aug. 19, more than 2,700 elementary students, more than 1,800 middle school students and more than 2,000 high school students opted to learn remotely in the 2020-21 academic year.
Most students, though, will open the school year on a “C/A/B” schedule. Half of those students will receive in-person instruction on Tuesday and Thursday and the rest will receive in-person instruction on Wednesday and Friday. Monday, the “C day,” will give in-person instruction to students who need to come in for extra help or meet in small groups.
The district’s virtual academy will provide instruction via live-streaming and digital coursework through computer-based platforms. This is different from remote learning, which was implemented during the emergency shutdown last spring — and it has a more structured schedule and a more rigorous attendance policy, which requires teachers to record attendance on a daily basis.
First days of school in neighboring school districts go well
Rock Hill is the last school district in York County to have its first days of school. The Fort Mill School District’s first day began Aug. 31. Clover and York began class Aug. 24.
The Lancaster County School District had its first day of school Aug. 31, and the Chester County School District is set to open on Tuesday, the same day as Rock Hill.
The first days of school in Rock Hill’s neighboring districts went smoothly, The Herald previously reported. For the most part, the schools adopted similar COVID-19 procedures.
The Rock Hill School District calendar won’t change, but here’s what might
The Rock Hill School District’s 2020-21 calendar won’t change throughout the year: The district will still be closed Nov. 3 for Election Day, Nov. 25-27 for Thanksgiving Break, Dec. 21-Jan. 1 for winter break, April 5-9 for spring break and May 31 for Memorial Day. The last day of school will still be June 22.
But some policies and broader plans are subject to change.
Among those? The school’s facial covering policy.
That rule now states that students and staff will need to wear masks at all times while inside district buildings or on district transportation, with few exceptions. That said, multiple trustees on the Rock Hill school board made clear that this policy could be adjusted later this year.
“I feel like it’s best that we take a more conservative approach and just strike the clause altogether, and then, as I mentioned, potentially revisit this policy as we get into the school year and consider how we might evolve,” trustee Robin Owens said at the board’s Aug. 24 meeting.
According to its reopening plan, Rock Hill schools will rely on South Carolina DHEC metrics, AccelerateED Task Force recommendations and other established “trigger points” to initiate a timely and structured response to community spread of the virus when necessary.
Adjustments could be made to the district’s return to school plan if any of the following points (or other points deemed apprpriate by the district) become true over the course of the year:
▪ Local health care systems have insufficient staffing, PPE, testing modalities, contract tracing and isolation/quarantine capacity.
▪ The district’s capacity to sustain operations is threatened if the percentage of teachers and support staff is not sufficient.
▪ The district is unable to access, analyze and track data effectively enough to inform key decisions.
▪ The escalating fear and anxiety of the pandemic reaches a point where students, teachers and staff cannot engage in school and district operations.
For details on the district’s full plan, consult the district website.
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