Two of the five special school districts in Carroll County have put off the original school opening day until Monday, Aug. 17. All Carroll County schools were originally scheduled to start on Aug. 4.
The West Carroll and Huntingdon Special School Districts have both opted to delay school openings.
As of press time Monday, the McKenzie, South Carroll, and Hollow Rock Special School Districts were all still planning to open for a half-day on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
At Hollow Rock-Bruceton schools, all students, except those doing the distance learning option, were scheduled to attend for the half-day on Tuesday, then half the students would attend for a full-day on Wednesday, the other half would come for a full-day on Thursday, and then all students would come for a full-day on Friday.
The West Carroll Board of Education made the decision to push the date back during a special called meeting on July 28.
Huntingdon Director of schools Pat Dillahunty released the following statement Thursday: “Due to increase in the virus spread in our local community, the first half day of school for Huntingdon will be August 17. All Open Houses previously scheduled have been cancelled. We will continue to monitor the virus spread in our community and make changes as necessary. Please visit the district website and Facebook page for updates. If you have any questions, please direct them to the building principal.”
According to Randy Hatch, school director over Carroll Academy in Huntingdon, his school will also be waiting until Aug. 17 to open.
“I asked myself if I could guarantee the safety of my students and teachers, and my answer was ‘no,’” said Hatch. “I thought it would be better to just wait a couple of weeks.”
