Jasper County elementary school closes after 3 employees test positive for COVID-19
A Jasper County elementary school closed after three staff members tested positive for COVID-19, according to a school district news release.
All of the staff at Ridgeland Elementary School were asked to get tested, quarantine, and work from home for an undetermined amount of time, the release said. Administration at the school contacted only the parents of children who may have had contact with an employee who tested positive.
Last week, Jasper County schools held face-to-face assessment activities and instruction for preschool through eighth grade students, which was made mandatory by the state. It was the first time students had returned to the school since the pandemic began in the spring.
The rest of the schools in the district are still open, with face masks required on campuses and in district vehicles such as school buses.
After the week of assessments, the district held its first day of fully remote classes Monday.
The district received word from the South Carolina Department of Education last week that “unless major health and safety obstacles exist, it will be a requirement” for districts to reopen buildings two weeks after their official start date, per DOE spokesman Ryan Brown.
Previously, the district was required to provide an in-person option by Sept. 14, about four weeks from the start of classes.
According to an Aug. 10 report from South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, all 46 counties in South Carolina are currently considered “high-risk” for the spread of coronavirus.
The DHEC classification system has three metrics:
Number of new cases in the past two weeks;
Whether new cases have increased, decreased or stayed level over two weeks;
Percent of positives among people tested for COVID-19 in the past two weeks.
Brown said the DOE will use DHEC’s risk-measuring system while evaluating districts’ in-person options, along with other documents.
