GCS to increase in-person instruction for high school students

Beginning Tuesday, January 19, 2021, Greenville County Schools will increase the amount of in-person attendance for high school students from 40-percent to 75-percent. This means students who currently attend in-person classes two days a week on Attendance Plan 2 will attend four days a week, except for one week each month when they have three days of in-person classes instead of four. Career Center students will also see an increase in face-to-face instruction with most Level I and Level II courses returning to 5 days a week. Additionally, high school self-contained special education students will go from 4 days of in-person attendance to five.

“We’ve known from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that high schools pose the biggest challenge when it comes to returning students to the classroom. This plan allows us to nearly double the amount of in-person instruction at high schools and return most Career Center students to fulltime in-person instruction allowing them to work toward their industry certification,” said Dr. W. Burke Royster, superintendent of Greenville County Schools.

Here’s how the “75-percent plan” works:

Each color group (blue, red, green, purple) will have three in-person attendance days that never change:

• Blue—Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
• Red—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
• Green—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
• Purple—Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

On Friday, students will attend in-person classes three out of four Fridays each month based on their color group:

• Blue, Red, Green—January 22, February 19, March 26, April 30, May 28
  (Purple = eLearning)
• Blue, Red, Purple—January 29, February 26, April 2, May 7, June 4
  (Green = eLearning)
• Blue, Green, Purple—February 5, March 5, April 16, May 14
  (Red = eLearning)
• Red, Green, Purple—February 12, March 12, April 23, May 21
  (Blue = eLearning)

Students will engage in eLearning on days they are not physically in class. On eLearning days, teachers will offer streamed and/or recorded instruction.

Additionally, Career Center students (Level I and Level II) will move to 5 days a week in person instruction, with a few exceptions depending on the location, class, number of students, etc. Bus riders without transportation can take the bus to their high school every day and catch the bus to the career center.  Those career center students who use bus transportation on days their color group does not attend high school and cannot arrange transportation home, will be supervised at the high school or career center during the portion of the day they are not in career center classes.

High School 75% Attendance Plan

Plan de asistencia del 75% de la escuela preparatoria

Most classrooms will be equipped with plexiglass dividers that will allow for 3-feet of social distancing instead of 6-feet as long as masks are worn. The dividers will be larger in size than those found in elementary and middle school classrooms to accommodate larger students. Students will clean their pod at the beginning and end of class using alcohol wipes. Plexiglass will not be utilized in classrooms where 6-feet of social distancing is possible. Additionally, large spaces, such as media centers, auditoriums and science labs, will be used for instruction, particularly with large classes as needed. Protocols and logistics for class changes to avoid students in close proximity to each other will be modified by schools based on the layout of their  buildings.  This may also include one way directional hallways and stairwells, as well as extended class change times to allow for staggering class changes if needed. Staggered arrival times for car riders and car drivers could be implemented based on each school’s numbers of car riders and drivers.

If schools are closed due to weather, students will have eLearning on the day or days Greenville County Schools are closed. Students will return to in-person school on their assigned color group day with no changes in their schedule. Remember, this schedule does not impact high school students in the Virtual Program.