Marlboro County School District hybrid students in grades PreK-fifth will begin attending school face-to-face Monday, March 8.
Superintendent Dr. Gregory McCord presented the plan during Monday’s monthly board meeting.
McCord noted the plan will show across the district that the numbers are declining for both positive and quarantine cases.
Students in PreK- fifth grade will begin attending school face-to-face March 8, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  Wednesday will be a digital learning day as teachers participate in professional development.   
Students in grades 6-12 will continue with the hybrid model of Monday/Tuesday, Thursday/Friday that week.  Virtual Academy students (all grades) will continue attending virtually for the remainder of the semester.
On Monday, March 15, students in grades 6-12 will join the PreK-fifth grade students and will attend school face-to-face four days a week.  All PreK-12th grade will be attending Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Wednesday will continue to be a digital learning day for all students and a professional development day for teachers.  Virtual Academy students (all grades) will continue attending virtually for the remainder of the semester.
Immediately after Spring Break, Monday, April 12, will begin five days a week face-to-face instruction.  All students, PreK-12th will make this transition.  Virtual Academy students (all grades) will continue attending virtually for the remainder of the semester.
McCord said the district will continue to monitor COVID-19 data for students/employees and if necessary, adjust instructional practices as needed.
As of Tuesday in the district, 28 students and 11 staff members were quarantined. Of those quarantined, six students and five staff members are actively positive.
Since Sept. 2, 102 students and 116 staff have been positive.

COVID update
The number of active cases of COVID-19 in the county continues to decrease.
This week, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported, there were 100 active cases of COVID-19 in Marlboro County.
The active cases can be found in the following zip codes: 29512 (Bennettsville), 61; 29516 (Blenheim), 1; 29525 (Clio), 3; 29570 (McColl), 15; 29594 (Tatum), 0; 29596 (Wallace), 17; and 3, unknown.
In the past week, there have been 16 new cases of COVID-19 in the county. There are 50 total deaths in the county. Overall, there are 2,998 cases.
In the state, 445,523 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and 7,606 have died. Nationally, there were 28.7 million confirmed cases and 515,000 deaths.

Testing
COVID testing is available from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.  Monday-Friday at the Marlboro County Health Department, 711 S. Parsonage Street in Bennettsville. People are encouraged to sign up at covidtest.dhec.sc.gov. Once completed, go to the health department at the appointed time, pull up to the traffic cones, call the number and someone will come out to do the nose swab. Results can be emailed in 3-5 days or by mail in 7 days.

Vaccine
 South Carolina hit a historical milestone this week as more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the state. As of today, a total of 1,003,558 Pfizer and Moderna first and second doses have been given.
The state will move to Phase 1-B of its distribution plan on March 8. According to the SCDHEC, the following individuals will be eligible for the vaccine: 
-Those 55 or older, regardless of preexisting conditions
-People with increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
-Frontline workers with increased occupational risk including school workers and law enforcement officers
-Individuals at increased risk in settings where people are living and working in close contact
-All workers in healthcare and community health settings who have routine, direct patient contact and were not vaccinated in Phase 1a
Phase 1-C  will start in late spring with an estimated population of 2,588,320.
Phase 2 will start in the fall with an estimated population of 690,648.