GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC (WSPA) – School officials in Greenville County have said that starting Tuesday, testing to stay and quarantine practices will be suspended. They said fingers are crossed it can stay that way.
“It’s starting to feel a little more normal. I think that’s what people were hoping for,” spokesman Tim Waller said.
Greenville County schools have seen a decrease in positive COVID-19 cases.
“For two consecutive one-week periods, 0.3% of our population, speaking of students and staff, tested positive for covid,” Waller said.
Which, according to DHEC, means they don’t have to follow the same practices as before.
“As long as we have two consecutive one-week periods of Covid cases below 10%, we no longer have to use the test to stay, we no longer have to quarantine,” he said. declared.
Spokesman Tim Waller said he would carefully monitor the numbers and follow all guidelines.
Further afield in Union County, school days will also be a little different.
“As long as we maintain a positivity rate of less than 10%, we don’t have to do the quarantine or the stay tests,” said Eric Childers, director of administration.
“If we go over that in one location, we will place that school under a test procedure to stay, as we used to before,” he said.
Administrative Director Eric Childers says all of their schools currently meet these criteria.
“The past two years have been really difficult, and so, hopefully, we can complete the 2021-2022 school year and our children can experience what the real school was like without all the restrictions we had to put in place. , ” he said.
Childers said after Monday night’s school board meeting, the mask mandate for Union County schools was also lifted.
For worried parents or students, Waller says they have ways to ease your mind.
“We have rapid tests that we can give to families, we have the drive-through tests,” Waller said.
He says anyone who tests positive will still need to follow the same quarantine procedures. But, for now, it looks like classrooms will have a little more normality.
To track the positivity rate at Greenville County schools, click here.
7NEWS has contacted several school districts regarding their plans, here are those who responded.
Spartaburg County School District 1:
We are currently reviewing our school data from the past week and planning to update our procedures to align with the latest SCDHEC guidelines. We have implemented the latest guidelines from the South Carolina Department of Education that no longer require the use of masks by students or staff on state-owned and operated school buses. We plan to communicate additional changes to our COVID-19 procedures later this week.
Sandra Williams, director of communications for Spartanburg County School District 1
Spartaburg County School District 2:
We will follow the guidelines as indicated. Currently, none of our schools are close to the 10% threshold. Our hope is that with the hygiene and cleaning protocols we have in place, we will definitely stay away from the 10% mark and take a big step towards normality in our schools.
said Spartanburg County School District 2 public relations director Adrian Acosta.
Spartaburg County School District 5:
“We will follow the new DHEC guidelines and rule out close contact and quarantine.”
Melissa Robinette, Public Relations Manager for Spartanburg County School District 5
Spartanburg County School District 7
“District 7 has not yet made a decision on next steps. We plan to discuss and communicate this in the coming days.
Says Beth Lancaster, director of communications for Spartanburg School District 7
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