Lancaster County schools will resume more in-person classes for some students
Lancaster County elementary school students will soon be back in the classroom four days a week amid the novel coronavirus crisis.
Lancaster County School District board on Thursday night, during a special called meeting, voted in favor of in-person classes four days a week for elementary students. But only after Plexiglas shields from the state are installed in classrooms.
Dozens of parents pleaded a week ago to the school board asking to return to full five-day, in-person learning, The Herald previously reported. Parents argued younger students struggle with online learning and could fall behind academically.
The four-day in-person classroom model will likely begin at the district’s 12 elementary schools in mid- to late November, said superintendent Jonathan Phipps.
The district has held in-person and virtual classes since the school year began Aug. 31 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The in-person students go to class twice a week. Other days are for remote or virtual learning.
The school board’s decision Thursday won’t affect full-time virtual learners.
The board discussed but did not vote on plans for middle school to go to four in-person days after the elementary students and high school to return next semester.
Board member Melvin Stroble asked for the move to four days at the elementary level as a litmus test for a fuller return of all students. He wants the younger students back in the classroom a month before winter break Dec. 23.
“What I’m looking for, really, is at least four weeks of in-person time to give us time to collect data, to find out how this is working at the elementary level, and how we can bring our kids back in middle and high school,” Stroble said.
The board discussed setting a firm date Thursday night but opted not to with uncertainty on when the Plexiglas shields will arrive.
“When parents are making childcare decisions and figuring out what the next steps are, I’m just really concerned,” said superintendent Jonathan Phipps.
Learning amid a pandemic
The decision Thursday came a day after the district announced Lancaster High School would close through Nov. 9 because of the novel coronavirus, The Herald previously reported. Five staff members tested positive COVID-19 and dozens more were quarantined, leading to a staff shortage, school officials said. School activities also were canceled for lack of administrators.
“The outbreak involved mostly our administrative staff,” Phipps said during the meeting Thursday. “Basically the whole front office.”
County schools began the year with parents and students choosing either a fully virtual or hybrid education model. In the hybrid, students attend two days each week and are virtual on other days. The district has allowed more flexibility than neighboring districts by allowing students to switch between models.
Fort Mill school district elementary students moved to a full in-person setup four weeks into the school year, but middle and high school students remain in a hybrid setup, alternating in-person and virtual classes.
Rock Hill school district superintendent Bill Cook said in a statement Tuesday that pre-kindergarten through second-grade students will return to a five-day, in-person instruction schedule starting Nov. 10, The Herald previously reported. Grades 3-5 will return Nov. 30, with middle and high school students returning Feb. 8, or the start of the year’s second semester.
Teachers’ concerns
Andrew Jackson Middle School teacher Mark Griffith said teachers are concerned about the health risks returning full-time to the classroom. Some, he said, may choose to retire instead.
“We put teachers in a position where they have to choose between their job security and their health security,” Griffith said. “This is a difficult position for the majority of teachers in the building where I teach.”
Through Thursday, there were 1,956 COVID-19 cases this school year in public and private schools across South Carolina, according South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. There were 1,364 student positive cases and 592 staff members.
Of 23 school facilities in Lancaster County, 11 have at least one reported case.
At the board meeting Thursday a staff member said there were 48 district staff members who either tested positive or are in quarantine due to COVID-19. There are 25 staff members on long-term medical leave and more than 20 at high-risk for complications for serious complications from the virus.
Indian Land Middle School teachers Tracy St. Hilaire, Jason Weiss and Brittany Pollina offered similar concerns. St. Hilaire said this school year has been grueling for teachers who have to balance widespread changes and serve both in-person and remote learners.
“This year, we are being asked to do the impossible,” she said.
Weiss is worried about students unsupervised in hallways and cleaning the plastic barriers.
“It’s all about safety,” he said. “Putting our children first but it’s about putting their safety first, and then teaching after that.”
Pollina said some students are thriving with remote learning.
“They have developed personal responsibility, and they are developing digital skills that they can use in the real world,” Pollina said.
She’s not convinced it’s the right time for a full return to in-person classes.
“The idea that we can return to normal teaching is a fallacy,” Pollina said. “To do so would endanger our students, our teachers, our staff and every family member and friend they come in contact with.”
This week there have been 18 new COVID-19 positive cases among staff and students as of Thursday, with 11 on Monday alone, a presentation at the meeting Thursday. This follows adding 10, 17 and nine new cases in the weeks prior.
The district has its own online dashboard with coronavirus information. It shows 10 positive tests and 247 quarantines among students and staff last week.
‘Horrendous struggle’
Joseph Cusano, who teaches programming and coding at Indian Land High School, would like to see a defined split for teachers juggling in-person and virtual students at the same time.
“It is a horrendous struggle in the classroom,” he said. “Having to have 20 students online, 10 or so in class and then trying to differentiate, make all that work — horrendous struggle.”
Phipps said Thursday the reason why the district is moving to four days instead of five is to give teachers a day of work to meet challenges of both virtual and in-person learning.
“I’m really, really concerned teachers are going to burn out if we’re asking them to do both, without giving them a day to work to get that done,” he said.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
