Beaufort County Schools will return Aug. 17 — but will students be online or in-person?
Beaufort County School District students will start school Aug. 17, superintendent Frank Rodriguez announced Tuesday — but the district is still figuring out what school will look like when students return.
The district originally applied for a waiver from the state to start school Aug. 10., which has not been approved, chief instructional services officer Mary Stratos told school board members Tuesday.
Classes will end May 28, 2021.
Schools will be closed Sept. 7 (Labor Day); Nov. 3 (Election Day); Nov. 11 (Veterans Day); Nov. 25-27 (Thanksgiving); Dec. 23-Jan. 4, 2021 (winter break); Jan. 18, 2021 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day); February 15, 2021 (President’s Day); April 2, 2021 (Good Friday); April 12-16, 2021 (spring break); and May 31, 2021 (Memorial Day).
If needed, the district will use Nov. 25, Dec. 23 and Jan. 4 as weather make-up days.
Teacher workdays are Monday-Friday, August 10-14; Wednesday, Oct. 14; Wednesday, Nov. 25; Monday, Jan. 4; Friday, March 12; and Tuesday-Wednesday, June 1-2.
While the dates have been set, the district has not decided on a format for fall instruction after coronavirus forced students into remote learning for the last two and a half months of the 2019-20 school year.
Surveys were sent out last week to parents and district employees asking for “the most important considerations we need to think about as we prepare to reopen schools in the fall.”
A third of all respondents were split about 50-50, with half advocating a return to normal school operations and half supporting continued remote learning.
The remaining respondents offered a mix of views on how the fall semester should be conducted.
“As we look towards a plan, it seems we’re going to have to provide some sort of virtual learning experience and some sort of face-to-face experience for our students,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
He also said he would look at other reopening plans and survey parents and employees again before settling on a path forward for the district.
Survey takers were prompted to write up to 10 responses, then to rate other responses based on how much they agree or disagree.
Spokesman Jim Foster said Wednesday that more than 5,000 people have responded to the surveys, which close Wednesday at midnight. They have provided more than 7,500 “considerations” and 236,284 rankings of other respondents’ considerations.
Some of the most popular “considerations” were shown to board members Tuesday night:
“Things need to be back to normal.”
“I believe we should delay the start date. Because I care about my children and other children.”
“Working parents. Both my husband and I work full-time, it’s difficult to leave mid day or find childcare if schools are closed”
“I don’t think the kids should go back to school this year. There is no way to ensure that the kids can stay virus free while at school. It’s important because no parent wants their children to get sick.”
“Students emotional well-being”
“To try to ensure that my children continue to learn. I don’t want them to fall behind and not be able to retain knowledge needed to build a quality education.”
Some decisions have been made for summer school programs.
Rodriguez said summer school will be entirely remote in June, but the district is “looking at virtual as well as possible face-to-face” instruction in July.