The Lexington County School District One’s Board voted Tuesday to bring pre-kindergarten through second-grade students into school for face-to-face instruction four days a week (Monday–Thursday.)

Fridays will remain as stay-at-home virtual class days. The addition of more in-person class days will begin Oct. 5.

Also, some students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and some English Language Learners will come back on Oct. 5.

Grades three through five will also receive Plexiglass dividers in coming weeks. As when they are installed, the district will bring them in, for in-person class on school grounds, too.

At a special called meeting Lexington One approved the Phase Two, or the “Four Plus One” model.

The students will attend classes with Plexiglass dividers at their desks. They will have to wear masks, too.

The district press release said the Phase Two model gives schools time to adjust to bringing in more students in-person and it allows them time to bring in the youngest students, who have the most need for educational and social-emotional face-to-face instruction.

Elementary students do not change classes, and they stay with their classroom throughout the day. The students rarely travel the halls because meals are delivered to their rooms. So elementary schools are the best place for the district to start the next phase.