BCSC middle, high school students to stay on hybrid schedule

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will be sticking with a hybrid model of instruction for secondary school students through at least the start of February.

The district announced yesterday that based on the current community spread of COVID-19, the hybrid model will stay in place. The situation will be reevaluated on January 28th for any potential changes on that following Monday, February 1st.

Under the hybrid model, at the middle and high school level, students attend part of the week in class and part in e-learning, depending on the letters of their last name. A to K students are in person Mondays and Tuesdays, while L through Z students are in person Thursdays and Fridays. Should the county drop into the red level on the Indiana State Department of Health rankings, elementary school students would follow the same model.

Bartholomew County remains in the orange advisory level on the Indiana State Department of Health’s color-coded map of community spread, indicating serious spread of the disease.

School officials say that reducing the number of students in the buildings is the only way to maintain social distancing needed to help slow the spread of the disease. After finishing the end of last semester with distance learning, the district started up again almost two weeks ago with the hybrid model in place.

The district will continue daily to evaluate and to discuss the local situation with local medical professionals including the Bartholomew County Health Department and Columbus Regional Health.