COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Tuesday, the superintendents for Lexington One, Richland One and Richland Two shared updates on how they’re preparing to reopen schools this fall.
“I would never want our community to think that we’re purposefully delaying a decision. We just need to make sure we have all the information that we need,” assistant superintendent of Richland Two, Dr. James Ann Sheley said.
The school leaders said there is still a lot to figure out in relation to opening schools during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’d like to tell you that here in early July we’re ready to go but the truth is, we are still in the planning stage and will probably still be in the planning stage up until we get closer to the first day of school,” said superintendent Lexington One, Dr. Greg Little.
The virtual forum, hosted by the Columbia Chamber, offered a space where community members could address their concerns on school safety.
"We are talking about pushing the start date back but it’s really about trying to make sure we have all this stuff together and that the plan is well thought out,” Little said.
Sheley said results from a Richland Two survey showed that 68.3% of middle and high school parents are not comfortable with coming back.
"Those are preliminary results, the survey doesn’t close until Sunday, but we have a lot of education to do with helping our community feel safe,” Sheley said.
Parents watching the virtual forum said they wanted schools to focus on distance learning instead of reopening. However, some families don’t have access to the technology needed for online learning.
Dr. Craig Witherspoon, superintendent of Richland One, spoke about the lack of access some students face.
“There’s fiber here in the Center City, but we know we have students and parents that did not have [internet] access for one reason or another. We know there are other places in Richland One’s footprint that don’t have fiber. We know we need to work on that but unfortunately, that’s not going to happen before the start of school.”
The school leaders said they still need to figure out how to do fire drills safely, how to get internet access to students that need it, and how to administer daily temperature checks – just to name a few things.
“It’s a fluid situation,” Little says, “we’re trying to come up with the best plan possible but we’re going to have to stay flexible.”
Columbia Chamber’s next forum on school safety will be on August 4.