‘Sigh of relief’: Rock Hill schools keep original COVID-19 return plan, defy McMaster
Hunter Durham, a teacher at Castle Heights Middle School, stood outside the Rock Hill school district office Thursday night. She held a Bluetooth speaker that echoed the district’s Board of Trustees meeting inside. About 30 other teachers were with her, holding signs that read “Virtual Until Safe.”
In about an hour, Durham and the other Rock Hill educators on Black Street will cheer and smile behind their masks — celebrating the Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees’ unanimous decision to submit its original return-to-school plan to state superintendent Molly Spearman. The plan would not include an option where students can receive in-person instruction five days a week on the first day of the 2020-21 school year, which Gov. Henry McMaster advised — and which many teachers across the state opposed.
But in that moment, as the board discussed what it should do, Durham waited, watching through the office’s window. It had been an up-and-down week.
Monday night, the board unanimously approved a proposal that would bring back students in August on an “A/B-day schedule.” Half of the schools’ students would receive in-person instruction on Tuesday and Thursday and the rest would receive in-person instruction on Wednesday and Friday. It also planned to offer a virtual learning academy for families who wanted to keep their children at home.
But at a Wednesday morning press conference, McMaster gave unexpected guidance. He urged the state’s public school districts to restart in-person classes after Labor Day — and said he advised the state education department to deny any reopening plans that didn’t include five-day-a-week, in-person instruction at the outset of the school year.
“There’s nothing more essential, nothing more important we can do than educate the children of South Carolina,” McMaster said. “And, try as we might, we know that virtual education is not as good for most children, as face-to-face, in-class education.”
McMaster’s advice drew immediate criticism from state educators and forced districts, like Rock Hill, to reconsider already-approved plans. Much of the criticism came from teachers, like Durham, who said their health concerns weren’t considered in the governor’s comments.
“We should be guaranteed safety,” Durham told The Herald under the setting sun. “And right now, the plan in place, and suggested by McMaster, it doesn’t consider us as people. It makes us look expendable and I’m, quite frankly, sick of feeling that way in education.”
Saani Perry, a teacher at South Pointe High School, paced beside Durham on the sidewalk across from the district building. Cars honked in support as they passed by.
“What I would love is for them to (do) at least is stick with their original plan,” Perry said. “But I think what would be perfect is for them to choose to go virtual until it’s safe to return to that hybrid model that they were planning to use.”
Then they heard Rock Hill Schools voted to stick with its original return-to-school plan.
“It’s a sigh of relief right now,” Durham said. “But you still feel that gut-wrenching anxiety about being back full time and even part time.”
Rock Hill Schools stick with initial plan
In the 30 or so hours after Gov. McMaster’s advice to school districts across the state, concerned teachers, parents and Rock Hill community members made sure their school board heard them.
If it wasn’t via email or text or call, their presence was felt in person, across the street.
“I probably got over 100 communications over the past 24 hours,” superintendent Bill Cook told The Herald after Thursday’s meeting. “I’m thankful that people are concerned. They’re involved. They want to be a part of the decision-making process.”
During the meeting, Cook and other board members acknowledged the plan was doomed to be imperfect — inconveniencing families; making teachers uncomfortable with their chances of getting the virus; and even putting them at odds with their state’s governor.
Cook told The Herald the board’s plan isn’t in direct opposition to the state’s stance on returning the school — noting that the board received clarity from Spearman when she declared that local school leaders, in consultation with public health experts, are “best positioned” to make school reopening decisions.
“As I said tonight, I believe our governor, our state superintendent, myself and this board have the same goal,” Cook said. “And ultimately that is to bring all of our kids back to our schools safely. If we could safely bring back all of our children for all five days on the first day of school, we would do that.”
Windy Cole, a trustee, said in the meeting that she and the board have done the best they can to serve the area’s children.
“I’ve been in all the meetings,” she said. “I’ve listened to all the meetings. I’ve listened to everything I can. And I trust that our district is doing the best (it can) possible under these horrible circumstances.”
Brent Faulkenberry, another trustee, echoed the points made by Cole and Cook, emphasizing that the current C-A/B schedule is a “first step” in the ultimate goal of safely returning to an in-person, five-day-a-week schedule.
“We certainly know that there are parents out there, whether it’s single-parent families or dual-working families, who are going to struggle because of the daycare situation that this may create,” Faulkenberry said.
“But this is the first step. This isn’t the final step. And to me, that’s the part of it that I can hang my hat on.”
The district also re-approved its calendar for the year. Students will start Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day, which McMaster suggested Wednesday. The last day of school will be June 22. The original winter break (Dec. 21 to Jan. 1) and spring break (April 5 to April 9) will still be intact, and graduation for the three high schools will occur on June 26.
Back-to-school plan conflicts with DHEC
The district’s plan does not perfectly align with the recommendations of Accelerate ED, a COVID-19 education advisory group that recently issued its reopening guidance. The group recommends that schools hold “hybrid” instruction only in counties with “medium” virus activity, which is determined by the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.
As of July 12, York County is considered to have “high” virus activity. The group recommends schools establish “full distance learning” in areas with high activity.
“We’re in a dangerous area and to disregard their recommendations to go virtual to begin with, I think is irresponsible,” said Blake Hart, whose six-year-old son goes to Cherry Park Elementary School.
However, Hart was happy the board did not consider McMaster’s recommendation.
“It was very disheartening that he would try to put the students at risk that way and put the teachers at risk, but also that he would try to take the power away that has been given to the districts,” Hart said.
Had the district decided to adopt a five-day-a-week plan, Perry, a teacher at South Pointe, said he suspects a good portion of the district’s teachers would not have returned.
“While we enjoy teaching and while we love teaching, we also deserve to have a safe environment to do so,” Perry said. “We want to show our district we do support them and we hope that they make the right decision and not listen to McMaster’s request to do five days.”
But Keith Porter, a teacher at Edinport Elementary School, said regardless of the decision made Thursday night, he will be in the classroom, but it was important for the district to understand how its teachers felt.
“My responsibility is to the kids, so I’ll be there in whatever capacity I have to be,” he said. “But we have government leaders in place to make these decisions and we just feel like they need to know how we feel before they make them.”
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 10:59 PM with the headline "‘Sigh of relief’: Rock Hill schools keep original COVID-19 return plan, defy McMaster."
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