1 out of 3 students in COVID quarantine as this Midlands school shifts to virtual
One out of every three students at a Midlands elementary school is either sick with COVID-19 or being kept out of class in a precautionary quarantine. Now the school is switching to all-virtual instruction for the next two weeks.
Herbert A. Wood Elementary School in Pine Ridge is holding remote classes from Thursday until Sept. 15, the Lexington 2 school district announced in a press release.
Superintendent Nicholas Wade said the decision was made not only because of the rising number of coronavirus cases among faculty and staff, but because of the lack of available substitutes to take over classes when teachers are out.
“As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly one-third of Wood students were positive or in quarantine, along with a number of staff out for illness and quarantine,” Wade said. A number of classes at the school had already been placed in quarantine.
As of Wednesday, Lexington 2’s online COVID-19 tracker showed 17 students at Wood had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and another 277 are out either with COVID-like symptoms or had been placed in quarantine after a COVID exposure.
Three other schools in the district have already made the switch to remote learning due to high COVID rates. Cayce Elementary School went virtual last week, followed by Northside Middle School and Pine Ridge Middle School earlier this week.
In neighboring Lexington 1, three other schools are in virtual, with Pelion and White Knoll middle schools joining Centerville Elementary School on Wednesday. Lexington 1 has been one of the worst-hit districts in the Midlands since the new school year began in August, with more than 5,000 students across the district in quarantine as of Wednesday.
This school year has seen children in lower grades suffering the worst outbreaks of the virus, since children under the age of 12 are not currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. The city of Columbia and Richland County have both mandated that students in schools there wear masks to prevent the spread of the disease, but Lexington County does not have a similar rule and Columbia’s mask mandate is being challenged in court.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 9:24 AM.
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