Beaufort Co. schools see COVID-19 infections drop as district seeks quarantine changes
Beaufort County School District reported a massive decline in COVID cases last week, adding more evidence that the Lowcountry is moving past the peak of January’s omicron surge.
At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said the district reported 53 staff and 323 student COVID infections in the past week, compared with a record-breaking 615 infections the week before.
The district saw a much smaller decrease in quarantines — with 58 staff and 1,798 student quarantining last week. That’s down from 2,160 student quarantines the week before, with the staff number remaining unchanged.
Last week, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control reported that nine schools had more than 30 student COVID cases between Jan. 17-21.
This week, no school had more than 30 student infections, although four schools — May River High, Pritchardville Elementary, River Ridge Academy and Red Cedar Elementary — reported 20 or more student infections.
On Tuesday, the board voted 9-2 to send a letter to DHEC to “reconsider” quarantine guidance for students who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
Since DHEC began collecting quarantine and infection information from schools, Beaufort County has had approximately 10,078 in quarantine, and out of that 1,257 tested positive, Rodriguez said. The rest were in quarantine because of close contact with someone who had COVID.
“Data shows that 12% of the district’s quarantines turn into positive cases,” district spokesperson Candace Bruder said Wednesday. “88% do not.”
In a proposal for the motion, Ingrid Boatwright said she is against close-contact quarantine, and that excluding students from school impacts their social and emotional well-being.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to continue to quarantine asymptomatic children who are not at a substantial risk from this virus,” Boatwright said.
Seconding the motion, Rachel Wisnefski said the policies are detrimental and have been in place longer than anyone expected.
“There’s a lot more that we know now with regards to this virus and how it is affecting children, and also how it is affecting children’s mental health,” Wisnefski said.
The vote also included the childcare exclusion list, a state regulation that outlines when a child with a contagious illness, or a child suspected of having a contagious illness, should be kept out of school and when they can return.
Board member William Smith and board Chairman David Streibinger voted against writing the letter. By law, the district is required to follow the guidelines set forth by DHEC.
Meanwhile, Beaufort High School canceled an in-person open house scheduled for Wednesday evening, the school announced Tuesday on social media. The school will hold a virtual open house via Zoom Feb. 9.
What are the current quarantine policies?
South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control has already made big changes to its quarantine policies this school year, shortening quarantine periods and in some cases eliminating them altogether.
And on Tuesday, DHEC announced a new program: Test to Stay, which will allow student close contacts to stay in class instead of quarantining if they agree to wear a mask for 10 days and take a rapid COVID test five to seven days after exposure.
School districts have to opt into the Test to Stay program; Rodriguez said, “We have been exploring test to stay options, but we have not initiated test to stay options yet.”
During the fall semester, students and staff who were infected or exposed to COVID-19 were expected to quarantine for 10 days; now, the quarantine period has been reduced to five days or eliminated entirely in some cases. This follows guidance from the Centers for Disease Control.
Previously, unvaccinated teachers had to complete a five-day quarantine period and get a negative antigen or PCR test on or after the fourth day. To return to school, they had to wear masks for days six through 10 after exposure.
That policy is still in effect for unvaccinated students. But as of two weeks ago, unvaccinated teachers don’t have to quarantine after a COVID exposure if they don’t show symptoms while their school is in a “critical staffing shortage.” They will still have to wear a mask at school for 10 days after the exposure.
Beaufort County School District had to shut down in-person learning at one school — Daufuskie Island Elementary — for a week last month before this policy went into effect.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 2:16 PM.
