Nearly a quarter of Horry County Schools students are in quarantine, latest data show
Less than three weeks into the school year, Horry County Schools (HCS) reached a grim COVID-19 milestone Wednesday: 10,000 students are in quarantine.
The district reported 10,000 students in quarantine and 980 active student cases, the district’s COVID-19 dashboard’s latest update says. HCS has around 45,000 students enrolled, meaning about 22% of students are in quarantine.
Three individual Horry County schools have moved to distance learning temporarily in response to the rising coronavirus cases and quarantines in staff and students. Aynor Middle School, Loris Middle School and Conway High School are all temporarily conducting classes online, but it’s unclear how many cases or quarantines would be necessary for the district as a whole to do the same.
HCS is attempting to operate full time in-person without a mask requirement this school year as a state proviso prohibits schools requiring face coverings. The state Supreme Court will soon rule on if local authorities are legally allowed to require masks in schools.
The district nixed various coronavirus protocols that were in place last year, like plexiglass barriers in school meant to stem the spread of the virus and using hybrid learning to have fewer students in the school building at a time.
“Back in June, we thought that this school year would be very different, and COVID-19 would be behind us,” board chair Ken Richardson wrote in a Facebook post. “Unfortunately, with the Delta variant, the virus has made a comeback, and we are having to take steps to deal with it again.”
He added the district is communicating with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control about the possibility of shortening student and staff quarantine
The school district began reporting student quarantines earlier this week. Prior to that, only the number of positive cases in students and staff, along with staff members in quarantine, were reported.
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 4:09 PM.
