Home News DISTRICT RESPONDS TO GOVERNOR'S PRESS CONFERENCE

DISTRICT RESPONDS TO GOVERNOR'S PRESS CONFERENCE

7/15/2020

Administrators from Richland School District Two along with the Richland Two Reopening Schools Task Force met today after Governor Henry McMaster held a press conference regarding reopening schools on July 15, 2020. As planned, district administrators will present the final draft of the district’s reopening plan during public session of the Tuesday, July 21, 2020 board meeting. The final draft will be based on the phased re-entry plan that was presented at the July 9 Special Called Board Meeting.

In developing the final draft, Richland Two leaders are reviewing the information announced on Wednesday by the governor as well as the statement released by State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman following the governor’s press conference. They are also relying heavily on the research, recommendations, survey data and hours of work put forth by the Richland Two Reopening Schools Task Force and AccelerateED Task Force.
“Those who are making the decisions about the upcoming school year for Richland Two, want to reunite our students and teachers in their classrooms as soon as possible,” said Richland Two Superintendent Dr. Baron R. Davis. “We know there is no way to fully replace the value of traditional instruction. However, the pandemic continues to present safety challenges and concerns for students and employees. We are committed to doing what is best for our students and employees.”

For example, one challenge for Richland Two and districts across the state is maintaining physical distance at middle and high schools where student populations are large, students change classes multiple times a day and very few students attend classes with the same group of students all day long. Throughout the pandemic, medical experts have continued to urge individuals to avoid large in-person gatherings when disease activity in a community is high. We would be ignoring that important medical advice if we were forced to bring back all of our students to school five days a week when S.C. DHEC classifies disease activity in our county as “high”.

Richland Two leaders recognize that teachers, parents, students and employees want and need answers sooner rather than later. For now, the district recommends they continue to review Richland Two’s draft plan that is available on the district’s website at www.richland2.org/reopeningschools and to watch the livestream of the July 21 board meeting at www.richland2.org/livestream. Public session begins at 5 p.m. and there will be an opportunity for the public to submit comments that will be read by the district’s Chief Communications Officer during the public participation portion of the meeting. Directions for submitting public comments will be announced with the notice of the board meeting.

Dr. Davis said, “I hope the Richland Two family can find reassurance in knowing that we are in this together, united by our care and concern for each other. We appreciate everyone's patience and support as we follow an informed, equitable, and considered process for reopening. We want nothing more than for our children to come back to school when it is safe for students and employees.”