CAYCE, S.C. — Cayce Elementary School is the first school in the Midlands to temporarily move to virtual learning due to the number of students and staff who are sick with COVID-19 or in quarantine.
Beginning Friday, students at Cayce Elementary School will temporarily move to virtual learning.
Thursday evening, campus officials helped parents gather supplies like iPads to help children learn from home.
Six-year-old Nicholas and his mother, Kierrica Johnson, were among the families lining up at school.
"I definitely have to plan for [the change] tonight. I have to maybe call my job and move some pieces so we can do a smooth transition [to remote learning]," said Johnson.
Parents were notified about the change via e-mail, by phone and on social media.
Lexington District Two Superintendent, Dr. Nicolas Wade, tells News 19 the school already had a number of classes in quarantine.
He says as of Thursday afternoon, roughly 16% of students and 17% of staff at Cayce Elementary were COVID positive or in quarantine.
On top of that, he says securing substitutes has also been challenging.
"It's good they recognize it, that we need to go to virtual," said Johnson. "That's good with me. That puts me at ease."
While some parents applaud the decision, others worry if safety protocols aren't enhanced announcements like Thursday's could happen again.
"Since the school is not required to have masks on, I believe that's one of the reasons why we're going back [to remote learning]," said Ana Rangel, who has children who attend Cayce Elementary. "If they don't require it, then we will be going back completely for the whole year."
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In a statement to News 19, Dr. Wade said, in-part "Temporary remote instruction for Cayce Elementary -- or any Lexington Two school -- is not something we want, but our tools are limited when it comes to containing this highly contagious Delta variant...We are still inputting the data and contact tracing. We fully expect the numbers to grow for students and staff."
Students are tentatively scheduled to return to in-person classes Thursday, September 9.
District leaders say all athletic events or extracurriculars will also be on pause during the online learning period.
Free student meals will be available for drive-thru pickup in the traffic loop in front of Riverbank Elementary from 11am-12pm on Monday, August 30, and Thursday, September 2. Several days of weekday meals will be distributed over each of those two days. For additional questions about meals, contact food services at (803) 739-8381.