School District Five says Chapin High School assembly violated district COVID guidelines - WIS10

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LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - Chapin High School welcomed students back on the first day of school Wednesday with an assembly in which students were largely maskless and sat shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowded gym.

Lexington-Richland School District Five said the event violated its COVID mitigation guidelines, a tiered system in which guidance is determined by local virus transmission.

LR5 is currently in the orange level, the level just below the point at which buildings close and learning moves to a virtual setting, because of high community transmission. At the orange level, schools are to avoid students congregating in common use areas, and capacity limits are in place in gyms, auditoriums, and arenas.

The district said Chapin High School exceeded those limits at Wednesday’s assembly.

In a statement the district said:

“School District Five Leadership is aware of the assembly that took place on the first day of school at Chapin High School. Using guidance from DHEC, School District Five has created Five Levels of Mitigation Guidance for the operations of schools. Each level is intended to help schools communicate, prepare and implement mitigation strategies to reduce transmission of COVID-19. The district is on Level Orange which limits capacities in arenas, gyms, and auditoriums. We are working with school leaders to ensure that the guidelines are followed.”

The assembly also disregarded guidance from DHEC, which advises schools to avoid in-person assemblies or other congregate events.

While schools are not allowed by law to require the DHEC-supported measures of masks and vaccines, the Palmetto State Teachers Association said they can and should implement the other recommendations.

“If we pick and choose strategies and don’t implement everything that our public health officials are telling us, then we’re not going to get this virus under control, we’re going to disrupt learning for students, and most importantly and most troubling, we’re going to end up with more sick students than we have to and with students taking a virus home to their families and spreading sickness even further in our community,” said PSTA’s director of government affairs, Patrick Kelly.

Some schools in Lexington-Richland School District Five are under a mask mandate right now, imposed by the Richland County Council.

But that does not apply to Chapin High School, which is in Lexington County, where there is no mandate.

LR5 Board Chair Jan Hammond also said she believes state law supersedes the ordinance, and she will not ask Interim Superintendent Dr. Akil Ross to institute a mandate.

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