LEXINGTON, S.C. — One of the South Carolina Midlands' larger school districts has announced it will be going virtual due to staff and faculty absences caused, in large part, by COVID.
Lexington-Richland District Five announced on Thursday that it would be transitioning to virtual learning for two school days on either side of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. According to the district, all students in district five will shift from in-person instruction to virtual learning on Friday, Jan. 14, and will remain on virtual learning for Tuesday, Jan. 18. The plan, at this point, is to return to in-person instruction on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The school district, in its Thursday announcement, said that it had experienced a high number of faculty and staff members being impacted by requirements to isolate and quarantine due to COVID. The school district also said that COVID-related absences are more than twice as high as during the Delta surge.
During virtual class days, students will need to log onto their Google Classroom accounts at normal class times. Flexible Innovation Virtual Education (FIVE) classes will continue as they usually would.
As for arts and athletic events on Friday and Tuesday, schools in district five will continue, but at 50% capacity. Other extracurricular activities will resume when students return to in-person learning.
The school district's nutrition program will also distribute meals at the front of each school from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on each day of virtual learning. These are free to all students.