Updated March 1, 2022
The number of COVID cases in South Carolina and Darlington County has dropped substantially. As a result, the CDC and DHEC have made significant changes to their COVID guidelines for schools. The Darlington County School District will be implementing these changes immediately.
First, the CDC no longer recommends masks be worn on buses, and the SC Department of Education has lifted the mask mandate for South Carolina school buses. Beginning immediately, students and staff are not required to wear masks on school buses. Students and staff also do not have to wear a mask in the building UNLESS they end their isolation or quarantine less than 10 days. For example, if you test positive and return on the sixth day, you will need to wear a mask until day 10. If you test positive, you must let your school nurse know.
Other than that, masks are not required in our buildings.
According to the new DHEC guidelines, schools may suspend contact tracing, quarantines, or similar programs if the transmission rate is low. At this point, we are extremely lucky that both our schools and our state have a low transmission rate. As a result, we will no longer be making contact tracing calls or requiring students or staff to quarantine for close contact. Instead, anyone showing symptoms of COVID, should stay home and visit their doctor. If you don’t have symptoms and aren’t sick, you should come to school.
Please note, all of the changes can be reversed if the numbers in our schools or communities reach high transmission levels. We will, as always, continue to monitor the situation. The well-being of our students and staff is our highest priority.