Two schools in Knox County receive waiver to switch to virtual learning
The Tennessee Department of Education will allow two schools in Knox County to temporarily switch to virtual learning next week because of COVID-19.
Most students, however, should prepare to return to class Monday. Classes were canceled this past week as the district struggled with staffing shortages.
The district as a whole cannot request a waiver, but Knox County Schools can and did submit a waiver for Austin-East Magnet High School, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. Emerald Academy, an independent charter school, also submitted a waiver. The waivers allow up to five days of virtual learning.
Some districts have used a workaround to allow all schools in their district to go virtual. Tennessee Department of Education spokesperson Victoria Robinson told the Tennessean on Thursday night that there hadn't been a shift in policy, but there is "no cap" on how many schools districts can seek waivers for from the state.
It’s been a challenging week, but our community is still working together to achieve our educational mission! We’re so thankful for the dedication of KCS teachers and school employees, and we look forward to seeing students back in class on Monday, Jan. 24! pic.twitter.com/1ulqvlcqcM
— Knox County Schools (@KnoxSchools) January 21, 2022
This means that a school district could submit a waiver for each school in its district to go virtual. If the Tennessee Department of Education approves all the waivers, the district, in effect, is virtual.
At least four other school districts in the state pivoted to virtual learning by requesting waivers for each school, including West Carroll Special School District, Lincoln County Schools, Maury County Public Schools and McMinn County Schools.
It's not surprising given that dozens of school districts across the state have shut down because of staff shortages and sick teachers. Knox County Schools canceled classes for the entire week before requesting the individual waivers from the state.
Until this workaround, Knox County Schools' only districtwide option to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in classrooms is to use its banked emergency days, also known as inclement weather days.
So far, Knox County has used seven of its 10 days:
Sept. 27 to prepare for a mask mandate imposed by a federal judge
Jan. 6-7 because of winter weather
Jan. 18-21 because of teacher illness and staffing shortages
Knox County Schools hasn't updated its COVID-19 case count dashboard in a week because of the school closures.
In greater Knox County, the omicron variant upswing doesn't show signs of slowing down. Active cases nearly doubled last week from roughly 6,700 to 12,100.
On Jan. 12, the county set a record for new COVID-19 cases with over 1,100 reported in a single day.
The Tennessean's Education and Children's Issues Reporter Meghan Mangrum contributed to this story.
Rebecca Wright: Higher education reporter at Knox News
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Two Knox County schools will switch to virtual but others will return
