Face-to-face classes for Richland 1 students to resume next week

Richland 1 school district in Columbia, SC will resume some in-person classes starting Monday, the district announced.

Next week, all students will return to two days per week of classes. Cohort A will return to classes on Monday and Tuesday while Cohort B return to classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday will remain a “flex day,” according to an email sent from the district.

By Feb. 16, elementary students and middle/high school students will resume working on different schedule. Elementary school students will be transitioning to four days per week of in-person learning and a Wednesday flex day. Middle and high school students will return to two days per week of in-person classes and a “flex day,” the release said.

Richland 1 had originally planned to return to some in-person classes earlier this month, but officials extended online-only classes because coronavirus cases had been increasing.

The decision follows a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found the risk of returning to in-person classes was a relatively low risk. The study put renewed pressure on districts — which had already been facing calls from parents — to resume in-person classes.

Parents weren’t the only ones pressuring schools to resume in-person classes. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster had been calling for schools to resume in-person classes since summer 2020, according to a previous article from The State.

This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 10:14 AM.