Jasper Co. students’ return to in-person classes delayed by post-holiday COVID-19 surge
Jasper County students enrolled in hybrid learning will have to wait a few weeks longer to restart in-person classes, Superintendent Rechel Anderson announced Wednesday evening.
The Jasper County School District will continue its all-virtual classes until Jan. 20, which is the first day of the third quarter.
Anderson and Dr. James Gault, the school district’s medical adviser, announced the news in a televised broadcast while wearing face masks and sitting socially distanced in Anderson’s office.
Anderson said the community is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving, and officials are concerned there will be another rise after the winter holiday.
“We are in preparation to make sure we are exercising safety for all,” she said, adding the return to in-person schooling will happen only if there are “no substantial increase” in COVID-19 cases.
As of now, the students who will be returning to school are those who were already enrolled in hybrid. But if the opportunity for more students to transition into the hybrid model arises, information will be disseminated.
Despite the all-virtual status, high school students who are taking end-of-course state tests must take those in person on their assigned testing day.
“We don’t have an option about testing,” Anderson said.
She said it’s important for the community to understand that these Jasper school district decisions are made after consultation with medical professionals, like Gault.
“The battle against the pandemic is a community effort, and it requires the participation of not just those in our situation, but parents and students alike,” Gault said. “We need to be able to count on them to be able to pursue appropriate practices ... and how it will affect the school schedule.”
Anderson also announced that a new COVID-19 dashboard for schools is in the works, and the district is developing plans for on-site testing.
The COVID-19 dashboard will launch on Dec. 18 in an effort to provide the community with information updated weekly related to the pandemic, including the frequency of cases within the schools.
Although the plan isn’t complete yet, Anderson said the district is taking part in rapid antigen testing with the goal of bringing symptomatic students and staff on site so “we can have the information at our fingertips and can begin contact tracing.” The test results are available in as quickly as 15 minutes.
Anderson shared some details, including that the Jasper County Alternative School site may be the testing site, and the district hopes to house a nurse to help with testing and work with the district’s medical professionals.
“We are doing everything possible to assure you and reassure you that safety is paramount for us,” Anderson said.
Jasper County has reported 1,098 positive COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths since March, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data. In the past two weeks, the county’s incidence rate rose to 232.8 per 100,000 people, pushing it into the high incidence rate category.
Jasper County Council, Hardeeville City Council, and Ridgeland Town Council have not passed mandatory mask mandates at any point during the pandemic.
The Beaufort County School District, which began the 2020-21 school year with all-virtual classes, has offered hybrid instruction since Oct. 5, which lets students attend in-person classes two days per week and virtual classes the other three days. The district is scheduled to bring students back to in-person classes five days a week when they return from winter break on Jan. 4.
