Rutherford County Schools may start next semester on a hybrid model. The district is considering the option, which would prioritize in-person learning for younger students between kindergarten and sixth grade.
RCS had to close and re-open individual schools often in the fall as mass quarantines required. The district says an alternating, every-other-day schedule of in-person classes for grades 7 through 12 would help reduce the number of people in buildings at once, give more room for social distancing and ultimately slow the spread when positive COVID cases arise.
The proposal will be presented at the Jan. 5 school board meeting and, if approved, would run through at least the first week of February.
As other Middle Tennessee districts closed campuses early before winter break because of worsening cases in the surrounding community and state, Rutherford County Schools reopened a few of the campuses that had gone remote this month. Two educators in the school system have died of complications from COVID-19.