Georgetown County schools extend remote learning due to COVID-19 cases
Georgetown County public schools extended fully remote learning for an additional week due to the spread of the novel coronavirus in the county.
Georgetown County School District students returned from winter break Jan. 4 to a week of fully virtual classes.
The original plan was for classes to resume a hybrid in-person and online schedule Jan. 11 “barring unforeseen circumstances,” according to a news release sent out by the district last month.
Now, Georgetown County schools plan to return to hybrid in-person and online classes the week of Jan. 19, after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Until then, all winter sports games are canceled. Sports practices will continue, according to GCSD spokesperson Ray White.
Georgetown County has had 274 confirmed new covid cases in the last 10 days, bringing the total case count to 3,155 since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of Wednesday morning, 44 students and 38 staff members across the school district were quarantined. Of those, eight students and 28 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an online dashboard that provides information on active cases in the Georgetown County School District. The dashboard is updated on weekday mornings when school is in session.
Before winter break, 222 students and 48 staff members were quarantined, according to the Dec. 22 dashboard data. Of those, 28 students and seven staff members had tested positive.
According to a news release from the district, the decision was made “due to challenges with adequate staffing for employees who have tested positive or have been placed in quarantine” since returning from winter break.
