While the Mississippi Department of Education announced Thursday that Mississippi schools could choose to go to a hybrid style of learning, public school districts in the Golden Triangle plan to keep instruction in person — at least for now.
Columbus Municipal, Lowndes County and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated school districts all began the school year in-person, following a year where they each offered virtual or hybrid models. So far, only Caledonia High, part of LCSD, has changed after a COVID-19 outbreak among students and staff forced a two-week stint of virtual learning that runs through Friday.
MDE had previously encouraged all public schools in the state to return to in-person learning but approved a hybrid scheduling option to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through Oct. 31. MDE will reevaluate after that point.
Schools who adopt a hybrid model, which combines virtual and in-person learning, must ensure students participate in 330 minutes of instruction per day.
CMSD, which offered a hybrid model for students all of last school year, plans to stay in-person this year for as long as possible.
District public information officer Mary Pollitz said district leadership believes students need face-to-face interactions with teachers. Studies have shown that switching to virtual has been detrimental to students’ growth, she said.
“I know that MDE is allowing this to happen until Oct. 31… but as of right now, we’re going to stick to that face-to-face instruction because this seems like it’s going to be a temporary thing unless numbers continue to track upward,” Pollitz said.
Even though students, faculty and staff all interact with each other face-to-face, everyone is required to wear masks, Pollitz said, and the district is taking extra precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.
“The safety of our students is really important in the school district, and we’re doing everything we can to keep up with all CDC guidelines, cleaning surfaces off, wearing masks, things like that,” Pollitz said.
LCSD Superintendent Sam Allison echoed the need for students to learn in-person, but he said he is evaluating the situation “day by day.” Specific schools, such as Caledonia High, may need to transition to virtual temporarily during outbreaks.
“We plan on staying in person for the time being,” Allison said. “It could turn quickly, but our plan is to be in person. If something changes, we will definitely get that out, and we’re preparing to do virtual at any of those schools if we need to.”
On the same day Caledonia High went virtual, LCSD’s board approved a districtwide mask-wearing mandate in school facilities. It had previously only recommended them.
Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District is not considering hybrid instruction at this time, SOCSD Superintendent Eddie Peasant told The Dispatch. The board of trustees will be discussing a potential virtual learning policy at its September board meeting, he said.
“Hybrid learning options are mostly a risk mitigation effort to reduce the number of students at school at one time to create more physical distancing,” Peasant said. “It was the first option our district removed during the 2020-21 school year because of the difficulty of delivering instruction with three learning options (in-person, hybrid and all-virtual). Our school district is constantly monitoring our protocols and their effectiveness at reducing the spread.”
Even though the district is not currently considering virtual learning, Peasant said this could change if COVID-19 continues to evolve.
The Mississippi State Department of Health will not post case numbers for public schools for the week of Aug. 16-20 until Monday.
According to the MSDH website, CMSD had fewer than 30 positive cases during the week of Aug. 9-13.
LCSD reported at least 108 positive cases during the week of Aug. 9 with a potential 120 total cases throughout the entire district. Of those, more than half were reported in Caledonia.
SOCSD, which also has mandated mask-wearing since the beginning of the school year, had between 68 and 76 positive cases reported during the week of Aug. 9, the MSDH website noted.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 45 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
