Midlands district to go back to online learning so teachers can get COVID-19 vaccine
Lexington-Richland 5 school district will be going back to holding online classes later this month, so that teachers and staff will be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Chapin-Irmo area school district announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Lexington Medical Center to vaccinate district staff against the coronavirus, now that South Carolina has expanded eligibility for the vaccine beyond the elderly and health care workers. District staff and the Lexington-Richland 5 school board were informed of the dates on Monday.
“Our goal is to get our staff vaccinated as soon as possible and in an efficient manner,” said Superintendent Christina Melton. “This partnership accelerates our vaccination plans and allows us to keep student instruction moving forward.”
Schools in the district will switch to an e-learning format on Friday, March 26, and again on Friday, April 16, so that staff can be vaccinated in a mass event by the West Columbia hospital. The vaccines will be administered by the district’s school nurses, with training and oversight from Lexington Medical Center.
The e-learning days with consist of pre-recorded lessons and posted study material to allow teachers the time to get the vaccines. Staff who want to take advantage of the vaccination events should register with the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS), but don’t need to schedule an appointment.
The district returned to class full-time on Feb. 1, when most students returned to in-person campus instructions five days a week, even as students were allowed to choose to continue taking online classes for the rest of the school year. The school board recently voted to continue to offer the district’s distance learning program as an option into the 2021-22 school year.
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