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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
In a decision many felt was inevitable, Richard VanHuss, Director of the Elizabethton City Schools, made an announcement to the school community that Elizabethton High School will return to a hybrid schedule effective Thursday, Nov. 5, through Thanksgiving break.

VanHuss said that the move was in respond to the rising number of positive COVID cases without the community resulting in the students who are on the Traditional Learning Track at Elizabethton High School returning back to the hybrid schedule.

This announcement does not affect students at the elementary schools or T.A. Dugger nor the students who are on the Distance Learning Track.

Students with last names beginning with letters A – L will be in Cohort A and students with last names beginning with M – Z will be in Cohort B.

“For this week, students in Cohort A will attend school on Thursday, Nov. 5, and be virtual all other days,” VanHuss stated. “Students in Cohort B will attend school on Friday, Nov. 6, and be virtual on all other days.
“For the following two weeks, from November 9 – 20, Cohort A students will attend school in person on Mondays and Tuesday and virtually on Wednesdays through Fridays. Cohort B students will attend school virtually on Mondays through Wednesdays and in person on Thursdays and Fridays.
“During the week of Thanksgiving break, Cohort A students will attend school in person on Monday, Nov. 23, and virtually on Tuesday,” VanHuss continued. “Cohort B students will attend virtually on Monday and in person on Tuesday, Nov. 24.”
All other students in the elementary schools and at T.A. Dugger will remain on the same four-day schedule that has been in place.
VanHuss also wanted parents to know that a calendar showing these dates will be published on ECS social media pages and will be available on the system web page at www.ecschools.net.
The situation will be monitored daily and and further updates will be provided should other changes become necessary.
“We want to encourage all members of the Cyclone Family to continue the practices of social distancing, mask wearing, and frequent hand washing so that, as a community, we can combat the impacts of the COVID-19 virus. If you have further questions, please contact your child’s school,” VanHuss commented.

Further communication with the Director of Schools indicated there are currently around eight cases of COVID at the high school and close to 50 people who are in quarantine.

Since returning to school, the large number of students present present a difficult task to those who have to perform contact tracing to identify who those who have tested positive have been around.

VanHuss estimated that one person could possibly be in contact with 20 other people resulting in not only a large number of students having to be quarantined but teachers as well putting a higher strain on finding coverage for teachers to ensure school can continue.