Are Horry teachers vaccinated? Will they wear masks? Your COVID questions answered
The summer is winding down, and Horry County students and educators are gearing up for the first day of school. This year, it’s again accompanied by questions about how the school year will look different due to the pandemic.
Last year, Horry County Schools (HCS) began the year under a hybrid plan before transitioning to five-day in-person classes with a fully virtual option. As the pandemic presses on and discussions about vaccinations and mask requirements continue, The Sun News sought to answer some of your burning questions about what the school year will look like.
Will HCS require masks?
Due to a state law included in this year’s budget, it appears unlikely that school districts can require masks in South Carolina. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge everyone in schools to wear masks as the contagious Delta variant spreads, according to updated guidance released last week.
“It is a recommendation, and we do recommend that staff and students continue to wear a mask either on the bus or in our schools,” said HCS spokesperson Lisa Bourcier. “It is not a requirement, but a recommendation.”
How many HCS employees are vaccinated against COVID-19?
HCS isn’t tracking how many staff members have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, Bourcier said, citing HIPAA. The district and Conway Medical Center worked to vaccinate school staff earlier this year, and hundreds of employees took advantage of that opportunity. But Bourcier said she doesn’t have the number of employees who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Is HCS considering requiring vaccinations for staff?
It’s unlikely the district will require staff to be vaccinated against the virus in the foreseeable future, Bourcier said.
“There’s not a state requirement and I don’t believe we will place a requirement on that,” Bourcier said.
She added: “Right now there’s not even a state immunization requirement for students, they have certain immunizations that are required to enter public schools ... But right now, COVID-19 is not a state-required immunization.”
How many HCS students are vaccinated?
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for children as young as 12, but the district can’t track how many students have been inoculated, Bourcier said.
“That’s information we cannot ask,” Bourcier said.
What happened to the plexiglass installed last year as a coronavirus safety measure?
After spending millions to install plexiglass barriers last year as a coronavirus precaution, the transparent walls no longer separate desks, Bourcier said. The barriers were a prerequisite for schools to reopen full time last year after being shuttered during the beginning of the pandemic.
Some plexiglass barriers remain in the front office areas of schools, but they’ve been removed in classrooms, Bourcier said.
What other precautions are in place?
The district is using federal funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to improve air quality in the schools by installing air purification systems and replacing roofs.
HCS is installing 7,000 air purifying units using $7 million of the federal funding. By the end of September, 23 sites are expected to have the new systems installed. By next summer, another 31 sites are expected to have the air quality systems installed, Bourcier said.
The district is also continuing its heightened cleaning protocols from last year, Bourcier said, including more hand-washing stations throughout schools.
Students can also opt to attend school fully online, continuing an option from last year. While around 13,000 students started out in that program last year, only around 1,600 students have chosen that route for the upcoming year, Bourcier said.
With more students in schools, social distancing becomes more difficult. Bourcier said the students and staff will distance “to the extent that’s possible.”
“Because we are having five days a week with everybody in person, some school classrooms, the sizes are different,” Bourcier said. “We will accommodate the best we can for spacing requirements.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 12:00 AM.
