Greenville County schools will reopen Wednesday with modified bus routes

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – Greenville County Schools announced reopening plans and changes that will take effect later this week following the impacts of Hurricane Helene.

The district will be closed to students on Tuesday, October 8, a teacher/staff work day.

Schools will reopen on Wednesday, but some bus routes may be changed. All excursions have been canceled for the rest of the week.

Below is the complete information from Greenville County Schools:

Greenville County schools will reopen on Wednesday, October 9th and transportation will operate on modified bus routes. If a temporary bus stop is required, families will be contacted directly. Please answer and listen to voicemails to obtain this information. Tuesday October 8th is a work day for teachers/all staff. There will be no in-person training or e-learning for students; School and district offices will be open to the public. There will be no field trips for the rest of this week. Decisions regarding athletics are made individually and communicated through schools.

The decision to reopen Wednesday is based on the need to modify bus routes, practice operating those routes during daylight hours, and allow teachers to return to buildings on Tuesday to revise their lesson plans, as well as crews to give more time to clear the streets and restore power.

transport

Buses will be rerouted in areas that are inaccessible and temporary bus stops will be set up and communicated to families. Following tomorrow’s assessment, a delay to routes on Wednesday may be necessary; However, the buildings are open during regular hours and also accommodate hikers and motorists during regular hours. If families receive a call from the district or an unknown number, we ask that you answer the call and listen to voicemails for the alternate bus stop location.

300 GCS team members drove 9,000 miles Friday to assess the condition of routes from students’ homes to schools and found 1,500 problems, including downed and low-hanging power lines, significant amounts of debris on the roads, complete road blockages and closed bridges, sinkholes and traffic light failures at major intersections.

On Monday morning, crews reassessed road conditions, noted improvements and documented more than 1,000 remaining issues requiring significant bus rerouting. Although work will continue throughout the weekend and today, additional time will be needed to address the updated conditions assessed today, complete the detour and communicate with families.

On Tuesday, bus drivers will travel the modified bus routes during daylight hours to ensure they are familiar with the route and any obstacles they will need to navigate.

Academics

After the eight-day school closure, a revision of the lesson plans is necessary. We are extending the end of the first quarter by five days of instruction from October 11th to 21st to allow time to catch up on missed content. The second quarter end date of December 20th will not change.

More than 50% of teachers currently do not have internet access at home, were unable to work on it during the shutdown and will have to return to buildings on Tuesday to adjust their lesson plans. This, coupled with the fact that many families continue to lack internet access, also makes eLearning unfeasible.

For more information on dining, athletics, excursions and other information, visit www.Greenville.k12.sc.us.

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