KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Kershaw County Schools had their first day of the new school year on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
For the last couple of weeks, school districts in South Carolina have started a school year unlike any other. School districts have been working for months to prepare plans to help kids learn in a safe environment.
Kershaw County School District Superintendent Dr. Shane Robbins says their first day of school went really well.
"We started out with about 50 percent of our students that have chosen the face-to-face option and another 50 percent the virtual option," said Dr. Robbins.
The superintendent was able to visit at least seven schools on Tuesday.
Since the pandemic started, the school district has been working on plans for the new school year to keep children safe. Now, they're seeing their plans come to fruition.
"It's honestly a sigh of relief because when we closed down schools in mid-March, we really went to work on planning to try and determine what it was going to look like when we came back to school," explained Dr. Robbins. "To see our action plan put into play has been a good feeling."
While dropping off kids at school, parents are not allowed to walk their kids into the building in order to protect everyone's safety due to the coronavirus.
The school district is practicing other safety measures, including a temperature check as folks come into the building. Teachers are also checking temperatures, as well.
Buildings are being sanitized every day. With rooms being cleaned, a log sheet is also being kept to ensure teachers their classrooms are a safe environment.
"We went right to work. Our teachers have been planning and working on this, so even our virtual students, I've got a chance to observe some of the virtual classrooms and the teachers interacting with the students, and it was really amazing," said Dr. Robbins.
The superintendent believes students are ready to learn in a different learning environment than they are used to.
"I've said long ago that kids are more resilient than adults. As we train them at a young age on what good safety practices are, they're going to adapt to it. Everybody is concerned about their ability to keep their face mask on during the course of the school day, but I've seen it. They've gotten out of their cars. They've got their masks on and as I've gone through the buildings, they're wearing their masks," explained Dr. Robbins.
There's also times where students will receive mask breaks as long as they can maintain social distancing.
During recess, kids are also being spaced out.
One of the things the district was working on was transporting kids safely from home to school and back.
John W. Clinton is the Transportation Officer for Kershaw County School District. He says they're having less students on each school bus for safety.
"We've been planning on this for quite a while now, so with the start of the new school year, everything just worked out fine," explained Clinton.
The school district says they'll be checking students temperatures prior to getting on the bus.
"As long as their temperature checks out less than 100.4°, they'll get on the bus without any issues at all. Right now, we didn't have any issues (Tuesday) morning," said Clinton.
If a student does have a high temperature and the parents are home, students will be sent back to their house. If a student has a high temperature and their parents are not home, the child will sit in the bus on the front seat until they get to school. Assistants who are on the bus will then take that student to the health room of their school.
"We take pride in making sure that our students are safe on the bus and they're safe at the bus stop," explained Clinton. "We do all of our safety procedures that we've been taught and trained to do, and our kids are usually, we feel, the safest kids in the state in Kershaw County."
The Kershaw County Sheriff's Department is also assisting school buses and traffic to make sure kids get on the bus safely.
Buses are also being cleaned twice a day.
"When a child steps on the bus in Kershaw County and a child steps on the bus in South Carolina, they're one of the safest vehicles that there could ever be for transporting a child to and from school," said Clinton.
The superintendent asks for folks to be patient as they start the year, and he believes they're are prepared for the school year.
"We will get better and more efficient at this as we go along. I would tell our community we know that there is going to be a positive diagnosis somewhere along the line. Statistically, it's a given it's going to happen, but we will respond to it appropriately and maintain as clean and safe environment as possible," Dr. Robbins said. "I'm very confident with the protocols and the work that's taking place to provide a very clean, safe operating environment for our children to learn in."