More than 22,000 Aiken County students, along with faculty and staff, are going back to school on Monday, Aug. 16. Like schools across the country, the return is happening as the number of COVID-19 cases, driven by the delta variant, are continuing to spike.
Superintendent King Laurence, in a virtual news conference with local reporters, said faculty and staff spent much of the summer months preparing for the return.
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“We put measures in place like air purifiers in all of our classrooms. Our cleaning and sanitizing schedules are more robust,” he said. “We’re going to maintain at least three feet of distance whenever possible. Asking people to stay home when they’re sick, whether they’re students or employees.”
King said the two biggest things are masks and vaccines. Schools in the Palmetto State are prohibited from mandating masks under an executive order signed by Gov. Henry McMaster.
“I think all school leaders are encouraging the governor to reverse that order,” Laurence said. “I know that (state superintendent of education) Molly Spearman has made that request and I think most of us, as the leaders of the various school districts in the state, are encouraging him to do the same thing. I’m not prepared at this time to defy a state order. My job is to tell people how important I think it is, how important the school district thinks it is to follow safety protocols recommended by CDC and South Carolina DHEC.”
In the Aug. 11 DHEC media briefing, state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said, “I’m greatly concerned this school year could be the perfect storm for disease spread if we have unvaccinated and unmasked students and teachers together. In fact, in one week alone, we have confirmed 68 cases of COVID-19 among students and 17 cases among school employees. That’s with only a handful of schools that have students and faculty on campus.”
Laurence responded, “I don’t want to use the term like “perfect storm,” but I do worry that as students come into our school, students that have been away from each other tend to want to gather in groups, hug each other and welcome each other back.”
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Laurence, whose contract was extended through the 2023-2024 school year during a special board meeting on Aug. 12, said policies for sporting events are changing for the 2021-2022 school year.
“Last year we looked at 20-30% capacity in our stadiums,” said the superintendent. “This year we’re looking at about 70% capacity in our stadiums. We’ll continue to encourage people to wear masks. We’ll encourage students on the sidelines and coaches to wear masks.”
Law enforcement agencies remind motorists that students heading back to school means traffic patterns will change on area roads.
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Lt. Tim Thornton of the North Augusta Department of Public Safety cautioned, “School zone speed limits will be in effect and drivers should be alert for car line traffic at schools.”
He also reminded motorists to watch for school buses and obey the rules for buses that are stopped to load and unload students.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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