| Greenville News
If coronavirus cases continue to increase, many school districts in South Carolina, including Greenville County, could begin to decline with eLearning if those districts choose to follow state guidelines.
The South Carolina Department of Education issued guidelines for schools on June 22 with various drop scenarios based on the spread of the virus in communities.
But, according to a new report from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, 29 counties in South Carolina have “high” spread of the virus, leaving districts in these counties to decide whether to go to full distance learning for all students , if conditions remain. unchanged.
For districts with a “low” spread of the virus, the education department is recommending that schools follow a semi-traditional scheme. With this option, most students would return to classrooms with a predominantly regular schedule, but class sizes would likely need to be limited more than normal to allow for social distance.
The state recommends that districts with “average” spread of the virus in their communities adopt a hybrid school schedule. This can include several schedule options for schools – students can be divided into morning and afternoon classes or they can be divided into alternate days.
Several “high” dissemination zones within the state
DHEC released a report this week showing that only two counties in South Carolina have “low” spread of the virus and 15 counties have “average” spread on June 21.
These definitions are based on three metrics used to determine virus activity in the past two weeks – the number of new cases per 100,000 people, the trend of positive cases and the percentage of people who test positive.
In Upstate, Greenville, Pickens, Spartanburg and Oconee counties, all have “high” spread of coronavirus based on DHEC data, while Anderson County has “average” spread.
These trends may change until August, but only nine municipalities in the state have a downward trend in cases. One county has a stable case trend and the other 36 counties are on an upward trend.
State superintendent Molly Spearman said the growing number of coronavirus cases and the lack of masks in public could hamper the state’s ability to reopen schools in the fall.
Ryan Brown, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said he believed that many districts would take into account state guidance.
“We have already seen districts making academic and athletic decisions based on the information and data presented yesterday,” said Brown.
Brown said DHEC will update its list every week to reflect changes in the spread of the virus.
‘We’ll have to wait and see’
Greenville County Schools suspended athletic training and postponed summer classes based on cases reported by DHEC.
“Clearly, we’re going to have to wait and see what the conditions are before we can definitely say what the school will be like in the fall,” said Tim Waller, a spokesman for Greenville County Schools.
The Pickens County school district has announced it will follow state guidelines for the fall.
“The Pickens County school district plans to reopen schools for face-to-face education as scheduled for August 10,” the district said in a statement released on June 25. “While our goal for next year is to offer face-to-face instruction whenever possible, doing so will only be possible if COVID-19 cases drop significantly between now and August.”
The Pickens district does not plan to adopt hybrid programming, said spokesman John Eby, but could implement intermittent virtual learning if the virus spreads “medium” in the fall.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Ariel Gilreath is a vigilant reporter with a focus on education and family issues with The Greenville News and Independent Mail. Contact her at [email protected] and on Twitter @ArielGilreath.