ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Monday marked the first day of school for Orangeburg County students. As students and employees try to get readjusted to being back in the classrooms, the district's superintendent, Dr. Shawn Foster, visited 12 schools to see how the children were reacting to being back.
"Like many other first days aside from having to deal with a pandemic, it was a good day overall," said Dr. Foster. "Obviously, you want to see how the class looks and how many parents made the wise decision to have their child wear the mask."
Orangeburg County School District does not require students or employees to wear masks inside of the buildings. However, Dr. Foster says the majority of the schools he visited did elect to wear them.
"I was at one school with 701 students, and they reported only one student had not worn a mask," explained Dr. Foster. "Some schools, all of their students chosen to wear a mask. I've worn a mask and will continue to wear one. I wore a mask to every location I've been."
Health professionals say wearing masks will help limit the spread of the virus in schools. The superintendent of schools says there are nurses slated for all schools in the county if a child contracts the virus.
"We will have a schedule that will allow coverage for those school nurses who are out today," said Dr. Foster. "That information was emailed to schools as well. If there is a nearby school, then there is a nearby nurse to cover it."
Even though the school year just started, the district superintendent says this year is about collecting data to keep students and employees safe in the classrooms.
"That helps make decisions, but it can also take the data regarding masks," explained Dr. Foster. 'If we see that the spread here is not as rapid in other places, then we can attribute that our mask measures."
As of now, DHEC data shows 354 positive Covid cases in Orangeburg County have been reported in the past two weeks. With those numbers in mind, Dr. Foster says the district doesn't have a Covid dashboard for the public at the moment. He says the district plans to continue informing the public on their website and during board meetings.
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"The challenging thing about dashboards, it takes time to update them," explained Dr. Foster. "Sometimes it's easier for us to come right out and say this is where we are. Sometimes looking at the dashboard, when you hear something and the dashboard is not updated, people will say that's not accurate when, in reality, we haven't had time to update the dashboard."
The school district has also closed registration for parents wanting their kids to learn online. Dr. Foster says as of now, the district is not planning to pivot to online instruction for a period due to an outbreak. Instead, they said they would be reviewing certain scenarios to make a decision. For example, bus drivers contracting the virus will determine a decision from the district if kids can't get to school.
"We will have to continue to track data by schools and classrooms, then make individual decisions until that wide scope is affecting our inability to function as individual school or district," explained Dr. Foster.