Students in grades 7-12 at Loyd Star Attendance Center and West Lincoln Attendance Center will transition to an A/B schedule beginning Wednesday, Jan. 12. The schedule will continue through Friday, Jan. 21.

Each school’s A/B schedule …

Both Bogue Chitto and Enterprise will continue to follow a traditional schedule, according to a release from the Lincoln County Schoo District Central Office.

“Welcome to the New Year, unfortunately we are still dealing with a familiar burden. COVID has a newer variant and it is making its rounds throughout the world including our district. There are many reports that there will be a surge through the middle to end of January and then a sudden drop, similar to what we experienced in the fall. The good news from researchers is showing this variant has weaker symptoms and could potentially lead to herd immunity. Nothing is certain and we still must be willing to adapt as needed,” Superintendent Dr. David Martin said in a parent letter.

“At this time, we are using a 5-day quarantine for our positives or those showing positive signs. If you come to school and inform the staff you have COVID or its symptoms, you will placed in quarantine procedure. Students may return on day 6 if they are fever free. We are also seeing students with our traditional illnesses of flu, strep, and stomach bugs. Please bear with us as we do the best we can to maintain classes and a regular schedule.

“This past week we had 50 positive cases across the district. As many of you know from personal experience, some individuals are being considered ‘positive’ without a test due to the lack of test availability. At this time, anyone reported having COVID has been placed in our positive case count,” Martin said. “We were very fortunate to have minimal cases the last few months (averaged 3 to 4 a week). However, our current average is very similar to what we were facing in August. We will continue to do the best we can to keep everyone safe and maintain a normal as possible school year. In the event there is an extremely large absence due to illnesses we may have to look at alternative schedules (A/B or virtual). As we did in the past these will be targeted groups, just a certain grade or just the elementary – if possible) to allow most of our students to remain in regular classes. We appreciate your patience and support as we continue to navigate these circumstances.”

The district published the schedules for West Lincoln and Loyd Star.