This Midlands elementary school is going remote for 2 weeks as COVID surges in SC

Students at Cayce Elementary School will shift to a remote learning schedule starting Friday as South Carolina continues to see a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Lexington 2 school district announced the change in an email late Thursday afternoon. Cayce Elementary had 17 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its students as of Wednesday, according to the district’s coronavirus dashboard, but the statement from the district said the number of students and staff members placed in a precautionary quarantine led to the decision to pause in-person instruction.

In-person classes are scheduled to resume on Thursday, Sept. 9. Athletics, clubs and other extracurricular activities will also be suspended during the switch to online learning.

Lexington 2 is one of several school districts dealing with a surge in COVID-19 cases since students returned to classes this month. Neighboring Lexington 1 has also had 2,000 students taken out of school by COVID-19 precautions.

Lexington 1 Superintendent Greg Little said the district faced a higher case total after a week than it did all of last school year. Cases there have also been clustered in elementary schools, where students are too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Kershaw County schools also had 1,000 students quarantined early in the school year, and Pickens County switched all schools to an online platform for a week.

State officials have barred school districts from enforcing mask mandates as a measure to curb the spread of the virus, although that policy has been challenged by Richland 1 and Richland 2.

Parents will be able to pick up several days worth of free school meals in a drive-thru pickup in the traffic loop in front of Riverbank Elementary School from 11 a.m. to noon on Monday, Aug. 30, and Thursday, Sept. 2.

This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 4:25 PM.

Bristow Marchant

The State

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Bristow Marchant covers local government, schools and community in Lexington County for The State. He graduated from the College of Charleston in 2007. He has almost 20 years of experience covering South Carolina at the Clinton Chronicle, Sumter Item and Rock Hill Herald. He joined The State in 2016. Bristow has won numerous awards, most recently the S.C. Press Association’s 2024 education reporting award.  Support my work with a digital subscription