Sumter School District may add hybrid days for spring

Sumter School District is weighing the option of adding one or two more days per week of face-to-face instruction for hybrid students with the start of the spring semester in late January.

Superintendent Penelope Martin-Knox distributed a letter to parents and families of district students on Friday afternoon and also spoke with The Sumter Item.

Currently, all students in all grades - pre-K-12 - have the option of physically going to school two days a week in the district's hybrid/blended learning model, given the COVID-19 pandemic. The possible change could increase that to three or four days of face-to-face instruction at some point in the spring semester, Martin-Knox said. She said several factors will be weighed in the district's decision-making process between now and the beginning of January, which is the earliest any decision will be made on changes. The first day of the spring semester is Jan. 21.

Variables to consider include initially determining, via a parent survey, how many students are interested in face-to-face instruction in the spring and then determining if adequate spacing, staffing and bus transportation will allow for the transition.

"Once the schools receive that data back from parents, then we can look at it to access if we have enough space to even bring back the students for more days," Martin-Knox said.

COVID-19 incidence rates and cases for Sumter County will also factor into the decision making.

In Friday's update letter to families, Martin-Knox did say that parents have the option to keep their children in virtual instruction during the second semester if they, like before, document that decision with the district.

She estimated less than 40% of the district's students are currently in the hybrid/blended model of two days of in-person instruction per week with two days of virtual, real-time learning. All students spend Wednesday partaking in independent, online learning. Thus, more than half of the district's students have stayed in fully virtual instruction. The district was one of about 14 in the state that began the school year in a fully virtual capacity.

If hybrid percentage totals remain roughly the same in the upcoming survey, then additional face-to-face instructional days will likely be a possibility for current hybrid students.

"We have not put a definite date on it because we can't predict the number of cases or positivity rate at that particular point in time," she said.

The district will give at least a two-week notice to parents before any transition from the current model takes place.

Martin-Knox added she wanted to distribute the Friday update to offer all parents - whether their children are participating in hybrid or virtual instruction - the opportunity to plan accordingly and to have flexibility.

"Whatever we do," she said, "we have to plan around the needs of our students and the availability of staff and ensuring we are flexible with parents and them understanding that this may be a possibility and what it would look like for them. It's about making sure we take all those factors into consideration and also staffing availability."

The letter closed by reminding families that Monday through Wednesday of this upcoming week, Nov. 23-25, are designated as virtual learning days and that all students will receive pre-recorded lessons and assignments from home. There will be no in-class instruction in the district on those days.

On Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26-27, all schools will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.