Thousands of SC students went missing amid COVID. How many is DSS still looking for?
Thousands of South Carolina students who could not be reached during the spring semester after the COVID-19 outbreak shut down schools have been located, senators heard from the state’s child-welfare agency on Wednesday.
Of the roughly 16,000 unaccounted students reported to lawmakers in June, South Carolina’s Social Services director Michael Leach told lawmakers that all but 780 students had been located and surveyed across the state.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed with both the speed and willingness from people across our organization to get involved in this,” Leach told a panel of legislators on the Senate’s Reopen South Carolina, who are focusing on childrens’ services.
With the help of the state’s Department of Education, DSS employees and local law enforcement officials are working to locate 371 students ahead of the upcoming fall semester, Leach said. Officials have tried to contact the families of an additional 409 students, but have been unsuccessful.
In a June survey, the education department reported that 16,085 students — out of more than 700,000 students, or about 2% of the state’s public school population — had turned in little or no work from virtual classes.
That number was significantly cut over the summer, and Leach said his agency helped locate 2,295 of the remaining 3,234 students during the last three weeks that needed to be contacted.
Leach said families gave several reasons why students could not complete digital school work in the spring.
Some students did not have access to computers or internet service, while others did not have transportation to access WIFI-enabled buses or to pick up or drop off work packets. Leach said some parents reported that the material was too difficult for them to teach, and others said that it was difficult to teach multiple children at different levels while working a full-time job.
Parents also reported difficulty contacting teachers for help or schools for technical assistance.
And there also were language barriers, after parents reported that school work was provided in English to Spanish-speaking families, Leach said.
“We know that families need support, especially during this pandemic,” Leach said.
The department’s efforts over the past few months were lauded by senators on Wednesday.
“Going from where we started, … I think y’all have done a great job,” said subcommittee chairman Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that of the roughly 16,000 unaccounted students reported to lawmakers in June, the state’s Department of Social Services is still trying to locate 780 students.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Thousands of SC students went missing amid COVID. How many is DSS still looking for?."
