Greenville County Schools sent a message to parents Monday, Aug. 16, focused on the district’s concerns over rising COVID-19 numbers and what it hopes to do to control the spread.
The district noted that due to state law, it cannot mandate masks at school, regardless of the recommendations of wearing them by health experts from the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Decisions to wear or not wear masks will be left up to students and their families. Bullying students wearing or not wearing masks will not be tolerated, the message said.
The district also said it will work to maintain at least 3 feet of separation between students when possible. It also will urge students to wash their hands frequently and cough or sneeze into their elbow or arm.
“There are very few things that we can mandate in schools,” said Tim Waller , director of media relations. “But it is our intention to strongly encourage safe practices.”
Schools will be sanitized every afternoon, Waller said. Buses will be sanitized twice a day.
Waller said the message was not a reaction the Pickens County school district’s decision to go to virtual school due to a significant number of students having to quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19.
“We really ask lawmakers to reconsider the decisions they have made so school districts aren’t put in a position to either defy the law or follow the recommendations of public health officials,” Waller said.
