Richland 2 board finalizes school start date and vacation days as coronavirus looms

Richland 2 school board has unanimously approved a start date and vacation days for the upcoming school year.

Students will return to formal classes beginning Aug. 31, but elementary and middle school students will have five LEAP days — in which teachers will evaluate students in-person — from Aug. 17-21. The week between the LEAP days and the official class start date will be used for teacher work days.

The district picked between four proposed calendars, all of which had the same schedule for the first few weeks. The major differences in the calendars were vacation days and which day would be the last of the school year.

“It was our goal to preserve as many of the dates for the original breaks as possible,” without moving back the last day too far, Superintendent Baron Davis said during a specially called virtual meeting Tuesday afternoon. Approving the calendar and hearing public comment were the only two items on the board’s agenda.

Students and teachers will have off: Sept. 7, Oct. 9, Nov. 3, Nov. 25-27, Dec. 23-Jan. 1, Jan. 18, April 5-9 and May 31, according to the calendar.

Teacher work days are scheduled for: Aug. 24-28, Nov. 2, Jan. 25, March 12, April 2 and June 12.

The last day of school is set for June 11.

The district polled 232 parents and staff and found that of the four calendars, the calendar they approved, Calendar D, was the most popular.

During public comment, those who favored the calendar said it was more accommodating to military families who often travel during Thanksgiving and for those with summer vacations planned in June 2021.

Another commenter, Demetrius King, called for the district to approve Calendar A, which has extended holiday breaks, but finishes the school year later in June. Since the coronavirus is likely to take a mental health toll on both students and teachers, these extra days can help them better manage what is sure to be a difficult year, King said.

After all of the public comments were read, Davis said any calendar they would have approved would have trade-offs.

“We know there is no perfect calendar,” Davis said.

The LEAP days, one item on which all of the proposed calendars agreed, are days where teachers diagnose a student’s academic level in person. Since the LEAP days are funded by the S.C. Department of Education, Richland 2 has to hold those days in person in order to receive funding, Davis said.

However, parents who are not comfortable sending students in-person to the five LEAP days will not be required to do so, Davis said.

One thing the calendar will not affect is when teachers get paid, Davis said.

“It’s actually more disruptive to switch the pay days with the number of teachers we have,” Davis said.

Richland 2’s school reopening plan mirrors guidance from the official state task force AccelerateEd that says if coronavirus spread in Richland County is considered “high,” the school will operate as virtual-only. If the COVID 19 spread is considered “medium” schools will use a “hybrid” mix of in-person and virtual options. If the spread is deemed to be “low” traditional classes are held.

The high, medium or low classification of coronavirus spread in a county is determined by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

As of Monday, DHEC considers the COVID 19 spread to be “high” in every county in the state.