Coronavirus forces SC K-12 schools online for the rest of the school year

South Carolina’s K-12 students will spend the rest of the school year learning online, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Wednesday.

McMaster will issue an executive order next week that will end at-school learning while giving “flexibility” for districts to choose how to conduct graduations, serve students with special needs, recover textbooks from students and allow students to pick up their belongings from the school, the governor and S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said at a Wednesday press conference.

“We want to be sure we have graduation ceremonies for those young people and their families,” McMaster said.

Districts will also be able to hold some in-person events, such as parent-teacher conferences, so long as they are able to practice social distancing, Spearman said.

Schools will continue to serve meals as normal. Since coronavirus closed schools, the state’s schools have served more than 5 million meals, Spearman said.

K-12 schools had already been closed through April 30. SC colleges and universities — which have for years been building up their online programs to meet an increasing demand for lower-cost education — went to online-only education in late March.

It’s too early to say which changes, if any, there will be for the 2020-2021 school year, Spearman said.

McMaster and Spearman’s decision to close schools is in line with recommendations given by several S.C. Midlands school superintendents and districts throughout the state, according to a previous article from The State.

Nearly two-thirds of school superintendents surveyed told the S.C. Department of Education they did not think it was a good idea to return to school this academic year, according to the survey.

The main reason why: it is nearly “impossible” to socially distance on school buses, classrooms and hallways where students come into close contact, school officials told The State in a previous interview.

“The only way to maintain social distancing is to have people standing in the corner,” Spearman said.

Earlier this week, McMaster announced he will be easing restrictions on keeping closed retail businesses, so long as they practice social distancing, he said.

It’s all but certain S.C. will see a decline in tax revenue, but that will “hopefully not” result in any teachers being laid off, Spearman said. So far, all teachers have been paid, she said.

Officials were initially hesitant to close schools for the year. When McMaster and Spearman sent out a joint statement on March 24 extending the school closure date, they left open the possibility that students could return to the classroom this school year if coronavirus began to die down.

“Rest assured, if there is any way to safely open our schools earlier, we will do that, but schools must remain closed to protect the health and safety of South Carolinians,” McMaster and Spearman said in the March 24 statement.

Since McMaster ordered public schools closed last month, schools have primarily been using online learning, but also “distance learning” — particularly with younger students — which includes sending printed packages to the students’ house.

The online and distance learning have allowed students to continue their courses away from the classroom, but has created a disadvantage for students in places where internet service is unavailable or too slow to meet the demands of modern classrooms. Unlike the classrooms of yesteryear, video conferences, emails and even virtual classroom meetings are part of everyday life for middle and high school students.

“The digital divide in South Carolina has become very apparent,” Spearman said. “In portions of the Midlands there are still people who don’t have access to internet and that makes it harder.”

The state will “absolutely” continue offering buses equipped with wireless internet to rural and low-income areas, Spearman said.

Now that students are learning from home, parents have been required to fill some of the roles held by teachers, such as making sure students are staying on schedule.

For many parents, teaching has been harder than they thought, but that’s no surprise to teachers.

“When we get to the end of this, we’re going to have some more supporters for education,” said Christi Lewis, a teacher at W.G. Sanders Middle School during a prior interview with The State.

Throughout the country, schools have been looking to state and federal officials for recommendations on when to reopen schools. President Donald Trump has placed states in charge of deciding when and how to reopen schools. As a result, many states, ranging from Florida to Iowa to Illinois, have closed schools for the rest of the academic year, according to CNN. However, not all states have done so.

This has created confusion for school superintendents, who look to federal authorities for guidance on when and how best to open schools, according to a statement from the School Superintendents Association.

“In this case, state and local education leaders are looking to the federal government for guidance that is clear, concise and applicable, not guidance that leaves them scratching their heads and wondering, ‘But what does that really mean for schools?,’” according to the national organization’s executive director, Daniel A. Domenech.

This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 11:14 AM.