Georgetown schools switching to all remote classes in January as COVID cases spike
Classes in Georgetown County public schools will be fully remote the first week back from winter break.
All 20 Georgetown County School District schools will be operating remotely Monday and Tuesday, which are the last two days of classes before winter break.
Students will return from winter break Jan. 4 to a week of fully remote instruction.
Classes will return to a hybrid in-person and online schedule Jan. 11 “barring unforeseen circumstances,” according to a press release from the district.
“It’s a pandemic,” said Ray White, spokesperson for Georgetown County School District.
Athletic activities will proceed as schedule “unless circumstances dictate otherwise.”
The decision to move classes fully online was made “due to potential challenges with adequate staffing for employees who may test positive or be placed in quarantine” after winter break, according to the press release.
Across the 20 schools, there are 218 quarantined students and 56 quarantined staff members, according to an online dashboard that provides information on active cases in the Georgetown County School District. According to the dashboard, 26 students and 7 staff members across the district have tested positive for covid.
At Waccamaw High School alone, 51 students are in quarantine.
Classes at Georgetown Middle School went fully remote in the middle of last week after a coronavirus outbreak left dozens of students and staff members, including the school’s principle, in quarantine.
As of yesterday, Georgetown County had reached 2,530 confirmed cases and 49 deaths, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Georgetown County hospitals have reached 96% occupancy, meaning there are only seven hospital bed available in the county, according to yesterday’s DHEC data.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 1:46 PM.
