Dorchester District Two schools going virtual, roughly 20% of student body absent due COVID-19

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Dorchester District Two (DD2) Board members on Wednesday voted to move to virtual learning effective Tuesday, September 7. Students would return to in-person learning on September 16.

“These kids need to be in school and if you don’t get your foundation, those kids are not going make it,” says Barbara Hughes, a DD2 board member.

“You are allowed to have these sessions, but why can’t we ask you these questions person to person?” says one DD2 parent during the schools board meeting.

As board members had difficulty seeing eye to eye, keeping students engaged is the main concern during this virtual period.

“I fully and truly believe our kids need to be in school,” says Hughes.

According to the district, about 5,085 students were absent due to COVID-19 as of August 31. That accounts for about 20% of the student body.

“We need to get the rooms clean, get them sanitized and everything to get back. I think this will be much better on the learning,” Gail Hughes, a DD2 board member.

526 students were out with confirmed positive cases and 4,449 students were out quarantining due to close contact with a confirmed case.

Staff shortages are also a problem due to COVID-19. 75 staff members are out with a confirmed positive case and 38 are quarantined due to close contact with a confirmed case. Additionally, 37 staff members were absent “due to COVID family-related issues.”

The staffing shortage is being felt intensely when it comes to nurses. DD2 says that an average of 10 nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel (UAPs) are out daily, and there are five nurse vacancies across the district. This makes contact tracing much more difficult to do in a timely manner and puts a strain on nurses and UAPS trying to respond to day-to-day issues.

Officials hope the time spent in virtual learning will “to enable many of the students and staff currently out of school due to COVID situations” to catch up and give crews the opportunity to disinfect schools.

The board also approved an adjusted bell schedule for students upon return to in-person learning.

Upon return to in-person classes and for the remainder of the school year, the schedule will be as follows:

Elementary schools: 7:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Middle schools: 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
High schools, Givhans and Rollings Middle School of the Arts: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

DD2 officials are hoping for the installment of hundreds of air purifiers in classrooms and even office spaces to help combat the spread of the virus.

Editor’s note: This story is breaking and will be updated.