Midlands high school goes virtual because of rising COVID infections

Batesburg-Leesville High School is the first high school in the Midlands to move to a virtual learning schedule because of a rise in COVID-19 cases.

The Lexington 3 school district high school moved students to remote classes on Friday, with tentative plans to bring students back to campus on Monday, Sept. 13.

The latest numbers in Lexington 3’s COVID dashboard showed 100 students were out at the school in western Lexington County. Twelve students had tested positive for the disease, while 88 were in a preventative quarantine. Two staff members at the high school were also out for COVID-related reasons.

So far this school year, younger students have been the worst hit by the latest spread of the coronavirus. Three elementary or middle schools are closed in the Lexington 1 school district in the central part of Lexington County, and four have gone virtual in Lexington 2 in the Cayce/West Columbia area.

On Thursday, Lexington 2’s school board approved an emergency face mask requirement for students and faculty in the district. That decision came the same day the S.C. Supreme Court rejected a Columbia city ordinance that would have required all schools in the city limits enforce a mask rule. The court decided that the emergency order conflicted with a state law prohibiting mask mandates during the 2021-22 school year.

A separate legal challenge to the state ban has been brought by the Richland 2 school district. In the wake of Thursday’s Supreme Court decision, Richland 1 announced it would continue to enforce its mask mandate adopted in August until the court rules on that challenge.

This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 9:03 AM.

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