Richland 2 releases possible 2020-2021 calendars, including start day and vacation

Richland 2 has released four possible calendars for the upcoming school year complete with a modified start day, extra days, and vacation among other things.

All four calendars have the same schedule for the first three weeks, according to documents posted online by the school district.

In each, elementary and middle school students would have their five makeup days — also called LEAP days — from Aug. 17-21. The next week, Aug. 24-28, would be a teacher work week and school would begin Aug. 31, which is the following Monday. .

Richland 2, the largest school in the S.C. Midlands, has not said whether it will begin online, in-person or with a mix of virtual and face-to-face. Rather, the district’s reopening plan follows recommendations from the S.C. Department of Education’s AccelerateEd task force, which call for schools to open online-only if the coronavirus spread in Richland County is “high,” a determination made by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

If the spread is considered “low,” classes will resume in-person.

If it is considered “medium,” classes will be a mix of in-person and online classes.

As of Saturday, Richland County’s spread is still considered “high.”

The district is set to vote on the calendars during a Tuesday, July 28, called meeting. Approval of calendars is the only item on the agenda except for public participation.

School districts routinely publish draft calendars and solicit public feedback. But coronavirus has delayed and complicated the normal process of selecting an academic calendar.

The major changes in the calendars are vacation days and the last day of school.

For example, “calendar A” has 25 vacation days (two weeks off at the end of December) and plans to end school on June 17.

On the other end of the spectrum, “calendar C” has 18 vacation days and plans to end school on June 8, according to the proposed calendars.