Jasper County schools will delay restarting hybrid classes by at least two weeks
Jasper County School District students will have to wait at least two more weeks before returning to in-person classes, spokesperson Travis Washington said Tuesday.
Originally, the district announced it would remain virtual-only after winter break until Jan. 20, the start of the third quarter, to combat a post-holiday COVID spike.
But Washington said the district would delay the return to hybrid classes until at least Feb. 3 while the district works to get its state-sponsored rapid testing program running.
Near the end of that additional two-week period, the district will consult with medical advisers to determine whether a longer delay is needed, Washington said.
Jasper County has been more cautious than neighboring Beaufort County School District on reopening decisions. Since the start of the school year, all sports programs for the Jasper district have been suspended due to the county’s high COVID-19 infection rate.
Beaufort County did not accept S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s offer to provide rapid COVID-19 tests at schools, with superintendent Frank Rodriguez saying in December that the state’s testing plan could encourage sick students to show up on campus just to get tested.
Beaufort County students went back to school on Jan. 4, the first day of full-time, in-person classes since March. The district is still offering an online-only option for students who opted in to that program.
Jasper County School District’s rapid-testing site will be located at the Jasper County Alternative Program campus on Grays Highway to “avoid bringing potentially sick individuals into the school setting,” per the district’s Friday COVID-19 update.
Symptomatic individuals who qualify for testing won’t have to make an appointment; the testing will occur in their cars and results will be available within 15 minutes.
“Importantly, this approach will allow us to start contact tracing immediately, before those contacts can spread the virus further,” the announcement read. “We expect to be able to extend our testing capability to Hardeeville once our Ridgeland site is operational.”