HCS’s school reopening plan is a sound one that reflects the realities of COVID-19

“Back to school” in Horry County and across South Carolina has new meaning — one that is defined by COVID-19 activity and the realization that the public health pandemic and socioeconomic issues cannot be separated.

What’s encouraging is that the plan put together in Horry County has been shaped by public health data, and not by the whims of politicians seeking to please all people.

Georgia, for example, started school without necessary measures of protection — a careless and needless misstep that resulted in new cases of the virus that could have easily been avoided.

Fortunately there is no lack of detail or thoroughness in Horry County Schools’ 51-page plan, which was approved by the Board of Education. “It’s not perfect,” HCS Superintendent Rick Maxey said of the plan. “(But) it’s the best plan we have.”

Plan reflects reality

The reality is that the battle against COVID-19 remains a fluid one, and the HCS plan reflects that fact.

It gives parents the option of enrolling children in either full-time virtual learning or the traditional classroom setting – the latter depending on S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data regarding COVID-19 activity. Every Monday, DHEC reports on COVID-19 cases in every county by population, trends and percentage of positive cases.

In areas where there is high virus activity — the general situation across the state — educators must put an emphasis on remote learning.

In areas where there is medium virus activity — and Horry’s current trends appear to moving in this direction — educators can pursue hybrid schedules that allow groups of students to attend school two days a week and have distance learning on the remaining three days.

An area in the medium activity category averages anywhere from 51 to 200 COVID-19 cases per every 100,000 residents — and Horry’s rate recently dropped from 383.6 cases to 271.7 in just one week.

If similar reductions take place during the coming weeks, Horry could be n the medium activity category by Aug. 31 — the date that DHEC plans to release the weekly report that will determine how HCS starts classes next month.

Challenges exist

When the HCS Board of Edcuation approved the plan, about 7,000 parents had shown interest in the virtual learning program, which requires a one-semester commitment.

Such deep interest is a clear sign that some parents still have concerns about the safety of having their kids in classrooms — which they must weigh against the various educational limitations that may be present with online learning.

Meanwhile, there are still many unknowns about the risks that coronavirus pose for youngsters, pre-teens and teenagers. For example, here are some troubling facts:

▪ During the last two weeks of July, more than 97,000 children across America tested positive for the virus.

▪ Since the pandemic began earlier this year, there have been nearly 339,000 reported cases involving children.

▪ Most children exposed to COVID-19 aren’t seriously sick, but when they are hospitalized they are often much more sick than older patients; indeed some children still have symptoms months after becoming sick.

▪ Hispanic children are eight times more likely than white children to be hospitalized for the virus; Black children, meanwhile, are five times more likely to be hospitalized than their white counterparts.

These and other medical facts cannot be ignored as our schools open in 2020.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.