The Sunflower County Consolidated School District got a bit of a reprieve Thursday from the Mississippi State Board of Education.
The board voted to give districts in the eight counties where grades 7-12 in-person instruction was delayed by executive order this week the option of reducing its total number of days of instruction to 170 instead of 180, according to The Associated Press.
Sunflower County is among the eight, along with Bolivar, Washington, Coahoma, Forrest, George, Hinds and Panola.
Gove. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday the order that delayed the start of school in those communities, but that came one week after SCCSD had already decided to delay the start of instruction until Sept. 8, and the first nine weeks of education will take place exclusively online.
The state board issued a similar waiver late last school year as most school spent at least an extra week after spring break preparing to teach students virtually when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
As of right now, all school districts will be required to administer state tests as planned during the spring, something that did not happen last April.
