Teachers welcome back 70,000 students across local SC counties Monday

SOUTH CAROLINA — Every school district in our South Carolina counties said goodbye to summer on Monday, as more than 70,000 students in York, Chester, Lancaster and Chesterfield counties returned to school.

South Carolina is one of seven states banning any sort of mask mandate, and as students head back to the classroom, parents and teachers say they have mixed feelings about what this year will look like.

With climbing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, there is concern. Although South Carolina schools can’t mandate masks, they are encouraged -- and remote learning is not an option this year.

Many schools have also removed desk barriers and reduced social distancing requirements.

Laura Helms is a mother of three, and like a lot of parents, she is believes the virus will cast a cloud of uncertainty over the school year.

“You’re just weighing out your balances,” she told Channel 9. “Do you send them and risk it, or do you keep them home and risk other things?”

Many parents told Channel 9 they were trying to be optimistic about the school year.

“I’m looking forward to him being back in school in normal conditions,” said parent Andrew Sanfilippo.

One of our biggest school districts is Fort Mill, which has seen a lot of growth. The district has opened a new school in four of the last five years; and on Monday, it was Forest Creek Middle School that welcomed about 700 students for the first time.

The middle school is a $40 million campus, including top-notch athletic fields, in a place that never stops growing.

“It is almost unrecognizable for me, coming here in 2006,” said new principal Christine McNeil.

She said 18 Fort Mill teachers chose to move there with her and get Forest Creek started.

“I have hired virtually. I have hired in-person. All of my support staff I was able to hire, as well,” McNeil said.

Channel 9 saw some students walking into the school wearing masks, and others without.

6th grader Vincent Sanfilippo told Channel 9 that he just moved to South Carolina from New York. His parents said they’re glad his new school doesn’t require masks.

“The mandates, the masks,” his dad, Andrew Sanfilippo, said. “He had a sun tan line from where the mask was -- that’s when we had enough.”

About 1,600 students at Indian Land High School also walked through the doors of their shiny new school on Monday. Construction delays now behind them, the $100 million campus will help ease the pressure on another rapidly-growing spot, in Lancaster County.

“We just had change after change and we roll with it,” McNeil said.

In Rock Hill, Old Pointe kindergarten teacher Kristina Thompson is excited to write down the names of her students. As COVID-19 protocols have changed, students won’t have to stay in her classroom all day, even for lunch. She said that’s going to make a huge difference.

“Last year, my kids really didn’t know where everything was. They didn’t know what the library was like,” Thompson said.

Masks are optional, as schools can’t legally require them anymore. Thompson expects about half the class to wear masks. Channel 9 asked if that was too much to keep up with.

“As a kindergarten teacher, I have to keep up with who rides the bus, who’s going to day care, who’s allergic to peanuts, who’s lactose intolerant, who’s got hearing aids. I’m used to that,” Thompson said.

Many teachers are excited about the new school year. They’re still hand sanitizing and doing social distancing, but after 2020, they want a fresh start, and lots of them are crossing their fingers, hoping that can happen.

All local districts are running COVID-19 dashboards on their websites and have plans in place to deal with cases and quarantine situations if needed.

(Watch Below: SC bans mask mandates in schools; parents weigh options as students return to classroom)

SC bans mask mandates in schools; parents weigh options as students return to classroom

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