FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Middle and high school students in Williamson County will transition to either remote learning or a hybrid plan for the week after Thanksgiving break.
Williamson County Schools announced the change Friday, saying that cases among students and staff increased by 50% in the weeks following Halloween, and they’re concerned about the same thing happening after Thanksgiving.
As a result, from Nov. 30 through Dec. 4, middle and high school students will learn virtually, while Independence and Renaissance high schools will participate in a hybrid pilot. The district said more information about that will be shared by the schools' principals.
Their hope is to have secondary students on campus for exam preparation and for semester exams for the last two weeks of this semester.
Meanwhile, elementary students will return to campus after Thanksgiving with day-to-day monitoring.
School officials said the health department also recommended that WCS transition to remote learning the week after Thanksgiving. The district also cited hospital capacity as another reason to move to virtual learning, as cases are expected to increase after the holiday.
“We are in daily communication with the Williamson County Health Department and in regular communication with other medical and emergency management agencies in our community,” WCS said on its website.
The district said in the last two weeks, 23 out of 49 schools have moved to remote learning – either the entire school or class/grade levels, due to more confirmed cases among students and staff or due to students and staff in quarantine due to exposure.
WCS says of those schools in remote learning, 15 are middle (9 out of 11 or 82%) and high schools (6 of the 10 or 60%) and eight are elementary schools/grade levels (8 out of 23 or 35%).
You can continue to monitor updates on the district’s website and the Williamson County Office of Public Safety website.
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