SOUTH CAROLINA, USA — Leaders with the South Carolina Department of Education hosted their first 'AccelerateEd' Task Force meeting Thursday to start planning how school districts can best restart in the fall, after being shuttered due to the coronavirus.
State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman joined educators across the state to look toward the summer, starting with modified summer programs to get students back on track.
"We've got to get this right and we've got one shot at it," Alan Walters, the Executive Director of Safety and Risk Management at the Georgetown County School District, said. "If we can't have a safe environment for the limited purpose of summer school, we're going to have a hard time getting parents to send their kids back to school when the regular school year starts."
They considered both virtual and face-to-face models of learning with both presenting its own set of challenges.
In a virtual model, students without internet access could be at a disadvantage and, for those that do have it, they may struggle without the in-person contact of a teacher.
"It is no secret that the best way for children to learn is in a classroom, face-to-face with a teacher," Spearman said. "Our students have lost about 30 percent of that time this year."
Face-to-face learning will require school district's to get innovative to keep students and faculty safe while the coronavirus remains a concern.
"Are (health officials) going to recommend that teachers wear masks, that students wear masks? We don't know yet," Spearman said. "We don't know yet what that will be, but I know there will be high needs for sanitation."
Early drafts of what a summer program could look like focus on kindergarten through third grade students and bringing them up to speed in core subjects like math and English language arts (ELA).
They also discussed testing for the fall, with one educator saying it could put a "tremendous pressure on teachers" already working to bring students back up to standards.
Emotional support for students and staff and communicating with district leaders to determine their financial needs were also topics discussed.
Participants have formed committees to further discuss these issues. State Department of Education leaders will be taking the recommendations over the coming weeks to establish a plan going forward.