As COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins for teachers, Sumter School District to expand to 5-day in-person learning

Monday, April 19, is Sumter School District’s planned transition date back to five-day, face-to-face, instruction for all students in all schools.

As the state moved to allow frontline essential workers, such as teachers and school staff, to receive COVID-19 vaccines last week and more and more districts announce their return dates for five-day, in-person instructional options for students, Sumter released its plan on Tuesday in a letter to families from Superintendent Penelope Martin-Knox.

Given the pandemic, it will the first time since March 2020 that Sumter has offered a five-day, face-to-face, instructional model as an option for students.

Working in conjunction with Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, the local district will begin vaccine clinics for teachers and staff Wednesday, March 17, at the Sumter County Civic Center.

During the next 10 days or so, all district employees will have the opportunity to receive the first of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the civic center, according to the district’s vaccination plan.

If second vaccinations are administered by Prisma Health nurses to district employees 21 days following first vaccines, as protocol calls for, they would conclude Saturday, April 17, just before the April 19 transition date.
Current CDC guidance states that if a person, such as a teacher, is vaccinated and is exposed, then there is no need to quarantine.

In pushing for school employees across South Carolina to get vaccinated and a return to five-day, face-to-face instruction statewide to improve achievement, State Superintendent Molly Spearman has emphasized multiple times that a common challenge preventing many districts from expanding in-person instructional models is continuous staff quarantining.

This semester, Sumter School District officials have mentioned staff quarantining issues as well.

MORE ON MOVE FOR STUDENTS

Tuesday’s announcement by Martin-Knox comes as the district is transitioning to a four-day in-person option at all 15 of its elementary schools on Monday.

Sumter’s 10 total middle and high schools will remain in a two-day in-person hybrid model until the April 19 transition to five days.

The move will allow all district students about six weeks of five-day face-to-face instruction before the school year ends in early June.

Parents will continue to have the option for their children to remain virtual for the remainder of the spring semester, Martin-Knox said.

Currently, according to the state Department of Education, 42 of 79 school districts are offering a full face-to-face instructional option. A state department official said he expects that total will increase to about 60 districts by the end of March.

Martin-Knox and the local district has operated the entire year out of an abundance of caution, given the virus. Sumter was one of about 14 districts across the state to begin the school year in the fall in a fully virtual capacity.