Pickens County schools shift to all virtual learning as COVID cases spike

The Pickens County School District will go to virtual learning after just nine days of fall semester due to the number of positive COVID-19 cases growing to 162, more than the highest days of the last school year.

In an emergency meeting Friday, the board was told the staff was “very concerned” as the delta variant was spreading throughout families in Pickens County.

Two teachers in the district are hospitalized on ventilators.

On Friday alone, 142 students tested positive for COVID-19. Previously 20 students had tested positive, leading schools officials to see the virus was sweeping through the county.

The closure is temporary until a plan for safe return to schools can be implemented, the board said.

“Face to face instruction is preferred,” the district said in a statement.

The district had banned visitors and volunteers from schools and had been planning to see how the first three weeks of school went.

With 16,400 students, Pickens County operates 24 schools. Its district office is in Easley.

Like all South Carolina counties, Pickens County has a high incident rate for COVID at 721 percent 100,000 people, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. Greater than 200 is considered high.

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 4:53 PM.