Lincoln County School District Superintendent David Martin reflects on the start of a new semester.

Lincoln County Schools returned to class on Jan. 5 and Martin is positive on the district’s return.

“That has gone well,” Martin said. “We got some rest and we returned well. Everything kicked off good and things are looking well so far.”

As of now, the district is still maintaining its current schedule of having students attend class four days a week. Wednesday is still used as a cleaning day, along with being used as a testing day for those participating in virtual learning.

Martin said the district returned with six COVID-19 positives so far.

“With everyone returning we have had some COVID-19 numbers and exposure numbers,” Martin said. “But this wasn’t because of spread within the district. Our district’s exposure rate has been minimal.”

As for the possibility of switching to virtual learning, Martin said this isn’t likely at this time because the district’s virtual numbers have dropped since the beginning of the year.

“There’s always one or two that have mentioned it,” Martin said. “Most people want to stay traditional. Our parents are wanting to keep their students in school.”

Martin said making the switch to virtual learning would depend on the statistics regarding the virus.

“It all comes down to the numbers,” Martin said. “I’ve talked to other schools and it’s really going to depend on the numbers. It has been a possibility since this started, but we have a plan set in place for anything that could happen.”

Martin hopes the new semester will bring more time with students being in class.

“I’m hoping to be in school as much as possible,” Martin said. “With vaccines coming out, maybe we can get back to what is truly normal. I’ve already talked with KDMC about the teacher vaccines.”