Schools in the Rock Hill region shift to eLearning days due icy conditions on Tuesday.
With sub-freezing temperatures expected Monday night and roads wet after having been covered Sunday with snow and ice, school systems are making decisions about how they will proceed this week.
Traditionally, if roads weren’t deemed safe due to winter weather, students didn’t go to school. When COVID-19 hit, districts across the country invented and introduced a range of virtual school options.
This is what The Herald now knows about school plans this week in this region.
Rock Hill School District
A release from the Rock Hill School District at midday Monday said “Rock Hill Schools will engage with eLearning Tuesday due to the forecast of refreezing ice that will make it unsafe to open our buildings.
“All district buildings and schools will be closed to our team, this includes facilities and custodians.”
The district, through the state, has the flexibility to use five eLearning days each year for inclement weather. That means in the event of ice, snow or torrentially terrible wind, the district would use an “eLearning day,” which, in other words, is a day when students receive work through an online platform and must complete it within a certain time.
“If for some reason we run out of eLearning days, we would use the weather days (snow days) and then have to make them up as dictated by our calendar make-up days,” said Lindsay Machak spokesperson for the school system.
No school on Tuesday
Clover and York districts are scheduled to be off Tuesday.
The Clover School District board voted last week during a special meeting to move the originally scheduled teacher workday from March 14 to Jan. 18. The calendar change was made because a significant number of staff are out as a result of COVID-19, according to the district’s website.
Clover School District spokesperson Bryan Dillon told The Herald in an email that the district’s calendar has three days built in to be used as bad weather make-up days, which is required by the state. The district also has the ability to call an “eLearning day” in the case of inclement weather, he said.
Since the district has the ability to plan in advance, the district could call an “eLearning day” on Wednesday if the weather requires it, Dillon said.
“CSD will be closely monitoring the amount of weather we receive and its impact on our roads,” he said.
York School District students also are scheduled to be off Tuesday. York School District spokesperson Tim Cooper told The Herald that the district is monitoring the weather and has started considering its options.
The district’s board voted Thursday during an emergency meeting to amend its calendar, moving the originally scheduled teacher workday on Feb. 18 to Jan. 18, according to the agenda. The change was made to “assist with staff and student COVID-19 numbers that are reaching a critical point,” according to a release from the district.
In Chester
The Chester County School District has been advised by Emergency Management that due to Sunday’s winter storm, road conditions will not be safe on Tuesday morning, Chester County School District spokesman Chris Christoff said in a statement.
Tuesday will therefore be a remote learning day, Christoff said.
Students will work independently on assignments, but teachers will advise students of all assignments for the day and will be available during normal school hours via email to provide support as needed.
As of right now, the school at CCSD will return to normal operations on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, Christoff said.
In Lancaster
The Lancaster County School District also will cancel school Tuesday, according to a post on their Facebook page.
“Please look for more information from your child’s school and individual teacher for what this means for your student,” officials wrote in the post. “If you should have a power or internet outage, please know that we will work with your student to address missed assignments.”
Fort Mill
Due to the possibility for unsafe traveling conditions following the winter storm this weekend, all Fort Mill schools will transition to eLearning for Tuesday, a statement from the district said.
All afterschool activities and programs are canceled.
Schools will communicate more information for how the instructional day will operate, the statement said.
Because Fort Mill will have an eLearning day rather than cancel school, there will not a need for a make-up day later this year.
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 12:47 PM.
