With active COVID-19 cases climbing and now officially above 0.5 percent of Coffee County’s population of 57,000, all three school systems in the county are preparing to enter what will be called “hybrid learning.”
All three systems made announcements Friday stating that a “probable shift” to hybrid learning was coming soon. Hybrid learning means students will receive a combination of on-site and distance learning.
For Manchester City Schools, the system plans to likely shift to a hybrid schedule on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
For Manchester City Schools, Pre-K – 2nd grades will continue to attend school on the traditional schedule during regular school hours, Monday through Friday.
Grades 3 – 8 will move to the A/B rotation that was communicated on August 5. Students in Group A will attend in person on Mondays and Wednesdays. Students in Group B will attend in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays are Distance Learning days for students in grades 3-8. Exceptions to this schedule have been communicated to affected families.
“The impact of going to a hybrid schedule will reach many in our community,” explained director of schools Dr. Joey Vaughn. “We are currently examining alternatives for families with students in grades 3 through 5 who need child care assistance during the school day. That information will be communicated by Tuesday, August 11.”
Vaughn added that once a change is made to hybrid learning, the case rate will need to fall below 0.5% of the population for “at least two consecutive weeks” for the district to return to traditional learning.
Meanwhile, Coffee County Schools announced Friday the move to hybrid learning on Wednesday, Aug. 12, barring a trend change to increasing active cases – and cases have only increased since then.
Much like the Manchester City School schedule, on the hybrid schedule, students in Group A will attend on Mondays and Wednesdays while students in Group B will attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Exceptions to this schedule will be communicated to affected families. Fridays are distance learning days and no students report to school. Instructions on what needs to be done while students are at home will be communicated by the teacher of record in each class.
For Coffee County Schools, there is one exception to this rule. At North Coffee Elementary, grades 3-5 will do virtual learning for the entire week of Aug. 10-14 due to staffing issues.
