Lexington-Richland 5 drops in-class reopening, will offer hybrid, virtual instruction
In a little more than a week, Lexington-Richland 5 School District has changed its plans for getting students back in school.
On Thursday, the district school board dropped plans to reopen schools for in-person classes, instead offering parents the choice between virtual instruction and a hybrid plan that will rotate students between on-campus learning and virtual learning.
The earliest the district could start five-day a week classes is Oct. 8, the board voted on Thursday. The semester will begin Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day.
The decision changes Lexington-Richland 5 plans announced last week for reopening schools. That plan envisioned students returning to campus for face-to-face instruction, with social-distancing and rigorous cleaning guidelines for the classrooms and face masks in jurisdictions where they are required.
“A week ago, I was confident we would be able to have face-to-face instruction, but things have changed,” said Superintendent Christina Melton, citing the ongoing rise in coronavirus cases in South Carolina. “Last week, I compared it to a weather incident. It’s changing and dynamic, but there is no radar. There’s science and there is opinion, and we have to make the decision.”
Instead, schools will eventually reopen under a hybrid plan that will have students learning on campus two days a week on campus and three days online. Students from sixth to 12th grades will be divided into two cohorts by last name, and alternate days on and off campus to facilitate social distancing. Every student will take online classes on Wednesdays.
For students in kindergarten through fifth grade, they will stay in their homeroom class. If needed for some courses, teachers will change classrooms.
To make things easier for families with multiple children, they can request to have all of their children in the same cohort.
If parents choose the all-virtual option, they can still switch to the hybrid campus option before the end of the fall semester, and on-campus students can switch to the virtual plan. Some elective courses may not be available virtually, but the district is preparing a virtual course syllabus so students can pick the best option.
Divided opinions about reopening
Before Thursday’s meeting, some teachers had called on the district to develop a plan for virtual learning, worrying it is too risky to go back to class at a time when the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly in the community. The Lexington-Richland 5 Education Association urged teachers to turn out for Thursday’s meeting to call for a strong virtual option for students when classes return in the fall.
“In line with CDC guidelines and the National Education Association, any face-to-face contact is unsafe,” the LR5 Education Association said in a statement to The State. “You might say, ‘Most people recover,’ but people are dying and they will continue to die.”
But other parents who spoke at Thursday’s school board meeting are in favor of schools reopening, with many arguing they would face too many difficulties keeping children out of school in the fall. Those speaking in favor also said children would do better academically if they go back to class.
As of Thursday, South Carolina’s total COVID-19 case count surpassed 75,000, and 1,294 people have died.
Gov. Henry McMaster has called for all districts in South Carolina to offer in-person instruction in the fall, but he also advised districts to push back reopening for the fall semester until after Labor Day. McMaster said last week his statement is not a mandate for school districts, but he has asked the education department not to approve any plans that don’t include five-day-a-week in-person classes.
Other districts have moved forward with virtual instruction. Richland 1’s school board decided Tuesday to open the semester with all students taking online classes Aug. 31, with the possibility of moving to in-person classes later in the year.
Richland 2 also plans to keep all instruction online for as long as the Department of Health and Environmental Control rates the spread of the virus in Richland County as “high.”
In Lexington 1, students will follow a similar course, allowing the opportunity to take advantage of a modified campus schedule for all grade levels, but all students also have the option of using an all-virtual model.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 9:02 PM.
.jpg)