Pearl River County School District pushes back return to school date

Students in the Pearl River County School District will start school one week later than the previously announced start date.

The PRC School Board met in a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss a recommendation from Superintendent Alan Lumpkin to delay the start of the school year an additional one week to Thursday, August 13th in order for teachers and support staff to have ample time to prepare their classrooms and other areas for the arrival of students.

Board members (L-R) Jerry Frazier, Christian Burge, and Mark Herring

The first 2 days of school, August 13 and August 14 , will consist of distance learning

at home for all students. On August 13th , assignments on social distancing and the importance of social distancing during a pandemic will be provided. On August 14th , assignments on personal hygiene and the importance of exercising personal hygiene to reducing the risk of becoming ill will be provided.

The school year will still consist of 180 total days and will end the last week of May 2021.

Teacher work-days were moved around in order to allow for the delayed start and any other delay would have to come in the form of an executive order from Governor Tate Reeves.

Students will also return from the Christmas/New Year holiday a few days earlier on January 4th, 2021.

Superintendent Alan Lumpkin explained the changes approved by the school board stating, “Delaying the start one week, we are able to amend our school calendar and move three work days for our employees to the front. So instead of having only three teacher work days, we will now have six teacher work days prior to the students returning.”

During another discussion on students returning to class, the newly installed hands-free non-contact forehead body infrared thermometer system that was appoved by the school board on July 10th has been installed.

With the new thermometer system in place, elementary students who arrive at school showing a fever or other COVID-19 symptoms will be placed in an isolation room away from other individuals until a parent can come pick them up.

High school students should take any symptoms they have seriously and remain home until they have been cleared by a physician.