Summer classes, split school days, make-ups among options for schools, officials say

Expanded summer school, a make-up week of classes and split school days.

Those are some of the ways K-12 education, especially for the youngest students, could change because of coronavirus in South Carolina, officials said Thursday.

The Thursday meeting was the first gathering of the AccelerateEd Task Force, which was assembled to figure out how to get students back into the classroom and how to make up for lost learning because of coronavirus.

All of the ideas are preliminary and depend on how coronavirus will affect the state months from now, S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said at the meeting.

“I know we’re looking into a crystal ball and that’s difficult, nobody knows what the virus is going to do come August,” Spearman said.

The efforts are focused on students who are in kindergarten through third-grade, because that’s when it is most essential for children to be performing at their grade level, said David Mathis, the S.C. deputy superintendent of education.

To get those students up to speed, the department is proposing a four-week, summer math camp and summer reading camp, Mathis said. Those camps would be primarily in person — officials are hoping for July — but would also offer a virtual option, Mathis said.

Schools are also looking at starting earlier to help make up for lost time, but that comes with an expense, Spearman said. To open all K-8 schools in the state for an extra day costs $30 million per day, Spearman said.

Once the regularly scheduled school year begins in August, there is still a strong chance school will be different because of coronavirus. One of those ways is by splitting classes, said Chuck Saylors, a task force member who is on the Greenville County School Board.

One way that could be done is by having half of a given class show up on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other half show up on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Saylors said. This way, it would reduce the number of students in the classroom without disrupting bus schedules, Saylors said.

Smaller districts may be able to do half the students in the morning and half in the afternoon, but that could complicate bus schedules at larger districts, Saylors said.

The department hopes to pay for this extra education through money received from the federal CARES Act, under which S.C. expects to receive $216 million. However, it is likely the task force will also be seeking help from the legislature to either amend statutes or provide funding, Spearman said.

As coronavirus continues to keep students at home, educators fear the effects on students may go beyond the classroom.

For example, many students, especially those who are from low income backgrounds or members of an under-served community, being away from school has also meant losing access to face-to-face interactions with social workers or mental health professionals, said Chanda Jefferson, a task force member who was the 2020 S.C. teacher of the year.

“It’s been traumatic for them to be away from school,” Jefferson said of students who rely on schools for social services.

What’s more, students in rural areas without access to high-speed internet have been left behind their peers as their technology limits them from participating in the 21st century classroom of virtual meetings, online assignments and educational games.

The lack of classroom time is likely to affect both high performing students and students who are struggling with grades, said Latoya Dixon, a task force member and administrator in York School District 1.

“All of our students are going to have some learning gaps,” Dixon said.

The committee will meet next on Tuesday, May 5.