Some are considering traditional, hybrid, or entirely virtual models for instruction
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —School districts across the state are debating whether or not to bring students back to the classroom this fall.
Some are considering distance learning, while others are considering hybrid models where some students would come into the building.
There are several factors dictating whether schools opt to reopen like student and teacher health, as well as guidelines set forth by South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) on whether schools are safe to reopen.
At a Reopen SC Senate Subcommittee meeting last Wednesday, Dr. Deborah Greenhouse, a pediatrician with Palmetto Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic in Columbia, told Senators she is seeing more patients, even as young as eight, come in with severe emotional distress since schools closed last March.
“Lengthy time away from school often results in social isolation. Every single pediatrician can relate stories now of children with severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts related to social isolation,” Dr. Greenhouse said. “I personally have never seen the level of mental health problems that I’m dealing with right now related directly to school closures.”
Some districts are finalizing plans on how the new school year will proceed.
Sumter School District is starting the year with distance learning, then is intending transition into a model where some students come into the classrooms.
DHEC recommends that areas with widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 continue distance learning until the number of cases go down. There are three classifications for this: low, medium, and high.
Based on their criteria, only one county in the state has “medium” recent disease activity: Marlboro County. Every other county in the state has “high” recent disease activity, according to DHEC.
SC for Ed, an organization that has been fighting for teacher’s rights over the last few years, polled thousands of educators and school support staff members across the state. The survey found that several had risk factors, whether it be age, susceptibility to certain illnesses, or pre-existing conditions, which would could put them at risk if they came back into the classroom.
Steve Nuzum, a teacher in Richland School District Two and the Legislative Director for SC for Ed, said some teachers might leave the profession due to concerns over their safety, saying the contracts teachers signed in May, back when numbers were relatively low, is not the same contract today.
“It’s hard to plan a school year even when you know you’re going to be sitting in that classroom for 180 days with students. We do want to reopen the schools, but we don’t necessarily see reopening schools physically as the solution for every district,” Nuzum told ABC Columbia.
Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) supports reopening schools since he says South Carolina’s parents need to go back to work, and children need to get back to the classrooms.
In a press conference Friday, he said reopening the schools would help bring 16,000 South Carolina students who went unaccounted for after schools closed in March back into the fold.
Richland One Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon says his team is basing their decision based on asking parents what learning models would be the most comfortable for them and their children.
His team sent out surveys to parents, and told ABC Columbia the district will have a decision within the txt week.
“We still want our students to be engaged, we still want some meaningful activities to occur. Regardless of the modality, we still want learning to occur, it just may look different,” Dr. Witherspoon said.
The “accelerate ED” Task Force, which met several times from April to June to discuss how to safely reopen schools, recommended that school districts come up with their calendar and mode of education by August 1.
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School districts grapple with idea of reopening schools this fall - Abccolumbia.com
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