SC schools to get $33M in COVID-19 protective equipment, Superintendent Spearman says
When school children in S.C. head back to class amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, they will have more masks, more hand sanitizer and more plexiglass.
On Tuesday, S.C. Education Superintendent Molly Spearman announced the state Department of Education will spend $33 million to purchase personal protective equipment for students across the state.
The money, authorized by the state Legislature as part of a coronavirus relief package, will supplement local efforts to prepare students and faculty to return to the classroom despite the lingering threat of COVID-19.
“With the 2020-21 school year well underway, it is critical that teachers and schools have the supplies needed to ensure face to face instruction can continue to be carried out as safely as possible,” said State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman.
The money for all 81 school districts in the state will go toward
597,585 reusable cloth face masks
2,681,950 disposable face masks
87,010 face shields
108,476 boxes of gloves (100 gloves each)
41,474 gallons of hand sanitizer
Spearman made the announcement Tuesday at River Springs Elementary School in Irmo. Just last week, the school welcomed some students back to class for four-day-a-week instruction, part of an effort to get all grade levels back on campus for most of the week by Lexington-Richland 5.
The Education Department has also ordered plexiglass dividers that can be placed on students’ desks and other potentially crowded areas of a school. River Springs installed several such dividers in first and second grade classrooms before welcoming students back for four-day instruction only last week.
The superintendent has asked schools to get at least some groups of students back into the classroom full time as soon as possible, and Tuesday’s announcement will help in that effort.
But the pandemic continues even as schools try to return to normal. On Tuesday, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced 136 new cases of COVID-19 in either students or school employees identified in the past four days, the largest biweekly spike in coronavirus numbers since DHEC began tracking school-related cases on Sept. 4.
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
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