School District of Oconee County COVID-19 Update

From The School District of Oconee County:

District leadership is closely monitoring the spike in COVID-19 cases  at a national, state, and local level, particularly with the approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  It continues to be our goal to provide face-to-face instruction for as many students as possible while protecting the health and safety of our staff and students.

Through the first 12 weeks of school, the School District of Oconee County has had a total of 143 cases of COVID-19 among students and staff.  Over that time, 12 classrooms and one grade level were transitioned to distance learning for 2 week periods to mitigate the spread of the virus. Through this targeted approach and careful contact tracing, the vast majority of students were able to remain in face to face instruction.  The district will continue to use the targeted approach to address future clusters if they occur.  However, in light of the increase in cases, we would encourage all families to develop contingency plans for students in case there is a need to transition the entire district to distance learning for a period of time.  The decision to transition to distance learning will be made by district leadership in consultation with the SDOC Board of Trustees, the district nursing supervisor and officials from DHEC. 

During a period of distance learning, students will continue learning through remote instruction via district-issued technology devices or learning packets.  Communication will come through the method regularly used by teachers such as email, Class Dojo, Google Classroom, or Canvas.  No on-campus activities will be held. All sports practices and competitions will be suspended until a return to in-person instruction.  

We continue to maintain safety protocols within our schools. However, our best chance to continue face-to-face learning is for our families and the community at large to be mindful of safety precautions.  We encourage everyone to be diligent in wearing masks while in public; to maintain social distancing, particularly at gatherings; to stay home when sick; and to get tested if symptoms of COVID-19 develop.  

Please note: a transition to distance learning will not impact SDOC@Home instruction.  However, any in-person activities or classes attended by SDOC@Home students will be suspended until the district returns to in-person learning.