As the school year rapidly progresses and many children returning to 5 Day in-person instruction, we wanted to check in with Tim Waller to get his impressions as to how a very challenging school year is going and what we can expect in the coming weeks.
Looking back over the past few weeks, are GCS about where you envisioned they’d be at this time or did you even allow yourself to look that far ahead?
Honestly, things are progressing more quickly than any of us expected. We now have first graders back in school five days a week. 4K and 5K students are transitioning to full-time, in-person instruction, as well. And we recently announced a plan to get ALL elementary students back in school five days per week, thanks to 5 million worth of plexiglass from the state Department of Education. Soon, we hope, we’ll announce a plan to get middle schoolers and high school students back five days a week. The best part is, this transition back to in-person school is being done safely in accord with medical and scientific professionals. I’m amazed by our progress and by the excellent leadership of our superintendent, Dr. Burke Royster.
SC is still averaging around 750 new Covid-19 infections per day. Is there a number that you are looking at that could derail the return to class plans you now have in place for k5-5th grades?
There is always a chance our plan to bring students back to full-time in-person school could be derailed by a spike in COVID-19. But our decisions aren’t based on case numbers alone. While we pay close attention to the daily spread reported by DHEC, we are also in constant contact with local health and medical professionals, asking them about the risk-factors and whether they advise bringing more students back. In other words, no single metric drives our decision-making. We are very deliberate in our approach.
SC DHEC Unveils New School Reporting Covid-19 Dashboard
Given the social distancing criteria, are in-person classes for middle and high school students realistic at this time?
We have said that middle and school students pose the biggest challenge in the return to in-person school. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. Dr. Royster is not giving up on the idea of having all students return five days a week. If COVID-19 is here to stay as the nation’s top epidemiologists have suggested, then we must learn to live with it and in the meantime do what’s best for our students academically. Greenville County parents can rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to safely return to in-person school.
High school football seems to be progressing relatively well in Greenville county. Have their been discussions regarding winter sports; basketball?
We are delighted with the progress of our high school football teams. We are also encouraged by the quick actions taken by coaches and administrators when athletes test positive for COVID-19. Everyone involved—including parents—is committed to protecting the safety of young athletes. We are also thankful for cooperation of other school districts in communicating their positive cases whenever it affects us. As far as winter sports, such as basketball, the same care and planning will be applied.
I know there has been tremendous pressure on each decision GCS has made this year. What factor has enabled GCS to make the decisions they have made and conversely not make some decisions?
There is always pressure on school districts to make decisions that please not only students and parents, but teachers as well. And there is EXTRA pressure when you happen to be the state’s largest school district and the 44th largest in the country. Because we have approximately 74,000 students and 10,000 employees—6,000 of whom are teachers—our decisions will almost always be different than a district with, say, 15,000-20,000 students. While some of our choices may not be popular with everyone, we are confident they’re the right choices. We are also grateful for the tremendous support of the Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees which has backed Dr. Royster almost every step of the way during these uncertain times.
Today’s Upstate Event Calendar
[wbcr_php_snippet id=”150856″]
