Gov. McMaster closes all SC public schools through March as coronavirus cases rise
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Sunday that he is ordering all 1,250 public schools closed through the end of March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Effective immediately, I’m ordering the closing of all schools in South Carolina starting tomorrow,” McMaster said.
The order lasts through the end of March and covers all K-12 public schools, state colleges and technical colleges.
Daycare facilities and private schools are not included in the governor’s order, but they are encouraged to follow suit and close.
The announcement and related information about the coronavirus pandemic came at a 4 p.m. news conference with McMaster and state officials.
Food centers providing two meals will be opened for students reliant on food provided in the schools that will be closed for at least two weeks, Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said at the news conference.
Spearman also said provisions are being made to make Wi-Fi available to students who do not have access to that technology. Plans are to equip some 3,000 school buses with Wi-Fi so they can travel to remote areas where that technology is not available, Spearman said.
School districts were previously asked to submit 10-day instructional plans to the Department of Education for its review, which will be implemented to during the closure. It’s unclear how many students do or do not have access to internet.
Buses will also be used to deliver instructional materials to students along regular bus routes, Spearman said.
Teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and others will continue to be paid, Spearman said. She added no decisions have been on graduation dates or extending the school year’s closing date.
“We’ll have to wait and see how long this goes,” Spearman said.
During the closures, deep cleaning of schools in the state is planned, Spearman said.
Finally, Spearman said, she is seeking federal approval to suspend the student assessment tests required by the U.S. Department of Education each spring. “There’s no need for our teachers and our students to have this anxiety of what’s going to happen on testing,” she said.
There are 780,000 students in S.C. public schools and approximately 55,000 teachers — a figure that includes all teaching staff and guidance counselors — in the state’s 79 traditional school districts. The state Department of Education also operates a fleet of some 5,600 school buses.
McMaster’s order affects only public schools, but normally in emergencies most private schools follow the governor’s lead.
On Friday, McMaster declared a state of emergency and ordered all schools in Kershaw and Lancaster counties closed. In the past two days cases of COVID-19 have spread to Anderson, Beaufort, Greenville, Horry and Lexington counties.
McMaster also urged that all public gatherings be limited to 100 people or less, as South Carolina has embraced the policy of social distancing, which encourages people to keep at least six feet from each other.
“This is a fluid situation, this is something we have not seen before,” McMaster said. “There will be changes and adjustments as we go forward.”
McMaster said he was not immediately going to order bars and restaurants to close but added all possibilities are being considered.
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MOREWhat you should know about the coronavirus
What is coronavirus?
Coronavirus is an infection of the respiratory system similar to the flu. Coronaviruses are a class of viruses that regularly cause illnesses among adults and children, but this outbreak has spawned a new disease called COVID-19, a particularly harsh respiratory condition that can lead to death.
Health officials believe COVID-19 spread from animals to humans somewhere in China. It spreads among humans by physical person-to-person contact, including via coughs. That’s why health officials urge sick individuals to avoid contact with other people.
For more information, visit the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms are similar to the flu and include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
How can I stop the spread of the coronavirus?
Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, and cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.
If you develop symptoms similar to the coronavirus, you should seek medical attention. Stay home from work or school and avoid contact with others. It can take up to 14 days after coming into contact with the virus to develop symptoms.
COVID-19 is a new condition and there’s much about the disease we still don’t understand. For now, taking precautions is the best way to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
As news broke that McMaster was preparing to close schools, Richland 1 school board was meeting to discuss their own plans to close schools in the Columbia area.
Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said the district had hoped to “ramp down” school operations over the next couple days, allowing students to come to class Monday or Tuesday to receive take-home packets and receive instructions on e-learning during their time off.
“We think as we assembled today that may be rendered moot by the governor’s press conference,” Witherspoon said, since the governor’s order was expected to close schools immediately on Monday.
Instead, he said students will rely on the district’s website and possibly its basic cable TV channel for instruction. Work packets will be distributed to students from their school.
During the 50-minute press conference at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Lexington County outside Columbia, McMaster also said there is no shortage of coronavirus testing capabilities in South Carolina.
“The DHEC lab has more than what we need and will be resupplied this week,” McMaster said.
McMaster’s order Sunday closing schools underscored the unprecedented magnitude of what many have called the world’s most severe public health crisis in many years. It started in China, spread to Europe and is said to be in its beginning phases in the U.S.
McMaster’s order came hours after the White House’s coronavirus expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on Sunday morning news talk shows, warning Americans they must take drastic steps to halt the high contagious and sometimes fatal disease.
“Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,” said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In the last week, as the Trump administration has begun to acknowledge the gravity of the coronavirus epidemic, Fauci has been a regular at Trump’s White House press conferences on the disease.
Keeping people apart from each other and avoiding mass gatherings is a major way to prevent the disease or at least slow its transmission.
Not only is the coronavirus easily passed from person to person by droplets in a person’s breath spread through the air, surfaces that an infected person touches can remain infested with virus germs for hours, Fauci and other scientists say.
Elderly people — over the age of 70 — are especially vulnerable because their immune systems are less resistant to the illness, scientists say. Most deaths from the coronavirus occur in senior citizens, according to news reports of the deaths. In the last two months, more than 162,000 people have been infected with coronavirus and more than 6,000 have died.
While children can catch coronavirus, they are not nearly as susceptible as older adults to developing a serious case of illness. However, children who appear asymptomatic — without symptoms of the virus - can be infected and easily pass their illness on to adults, scientists say. The incubation period of the disease is not yet known, but it can take days before signs of being infected show.
Eight days ago, South Carolina had just two suspected cases of coronavirus. On Saturday, that figure had climbed to approximately 20 known and suspected cases. However, since there is no widespread testing for the disease, there is no way to know for certain how many people have been infected.
On Sunday, DHEC announced it was reviewing nine new possible cases, bringing the state’s total of known or possible cases to 28.
In recent days governors in 11 states plus the District of Columbia have ordered statewide school closings, as well as authorities in large school districts such as in Los Angeles.
Announced statewide school closings include Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, New Mexico, Oregon, Michigan, Washington State, Florida, Illinois and North Carolina. The closings affect more than 25 million students, according to news reports. In Washington State, Gov. Jay. Inslee ordered schools in several counties around Seattle — a coronavirus hotspot — closed.
On Saturday, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper announced that all K-12 schools in the Tar Heel state will close for two weeks beginning Monday. His order affects 1.5 million public school students in that state.
In all, at least 57,000 schools across the nation have closed affecting more than 25 million students, according to Education Week.
McMaster’s order also puts high school sports on hold for the next two weeks. No school means no games or practices are allowed.
Teachers and staff in Richland 1 are being told to report to work on Monday, and students and parents will have the opportunity to collect medications and other personal items from the school from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday.
Students who depend on schools for meals during the week will also be directed to sites where they can pick up breakfast and lunch during the shutdown. District spokeswoman Karen York said the district has used a similar distribution system during hurricanes and the 2015 flood. Spearman said Sunday the education department’s summer feeding program will also go into effect during the shutdown. Witherspoon said the administration is also looking at using school buses to deliver meals in some areas.
In a statement sent to parents, Lexington 1 said it would begin e-learning by Thursday. Students and parents can pick up personal items at school between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Parents are also being asked to let school officials know which households don’t have internet access so other arrangements can be made.
School meals will also be provided at designated signs during the shutdown.
Richland 2 will also provide meals at designated locations during the shutdown, a statement on the district’s website said. Students will also begin e-learning courses by Thursday. Lexington 2 will also move to e-learning, and will distribute lunches for students from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cayce Elementary beginning Monday, with other sites to be announced later.
In Lexington-Richland 5, district spokesperson Laura McElveen said students were already prepared to be off Monday for a teacher workday, lessening the disruption for them somewhat.
At Sunday’s Richland 1 board meeting, members were concerned whether the shutdown would mean missed school days will have to be made up later in the school year. Witherspoon said the district could use spring break dates or other days on the calendar to make up for the shutdown, if necessary. Spearman said Sunday she’s asked the federal government to suspend federally-mandated testing this spring.
“This is not being done to give time off from school,” said board member Jonathan Milling. “It’s to try to prevent having large congregations together who might be carriers. Please be smart.”
Referring to other countries that have implemented more restrictions on whether residents can move around or gather together, Milling said schools are being closed “so we don’t see what happened in Italy happen here, or what France is doing, Spain is doing.”
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MOREThis is a breaking news story
In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 1:52 PM.
