SUMNER — The West Tallahatchie School District has suspended in-person classes and switched to virtual learning in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, it was announced Saturday.
The move is only temporary, beginning Monday, Aug. 23, and continuing through Monday, Sept. 6. However, due to a recent Mississippi High School Activities Association ruling that bars schools on virtual learning from playing sports, Friday night’s scheduled game between Charleston and West Tally has been canceled, as has the Choctaws’ Sept. 3 contest at Greenville O’Bannon.
“The reason we are going virtual for the next two weeks is because of the number of COVID-19 cases in the district,” noted WTSD Superintendent Dr. Sherry Ellington.
All district facilities were closed Monday and Tuesday, with “essential employees” returning to schools and offices on Wednesday.
Ellington said all buildings would be “thoroughly deep-cleaned every day because administrators will be in the buildings these two weeks.”
Last Thursday, the district began distribution of technology devices — Chromebooks, iPads and wireless hot spots — to parents and legal guardians of students from kindergarten through 12th grade. It continued Friday and resumed Wednesday.
The technology is designed to enable students to do schoolwork at home.
“Students are expected to log into classes daily,” noted a Saturday morning post on the district’s Facebook page which announced the virtual learning period.
The post noted that meal delivery by the district to students’ homes will be ongoing during virtual learning.
The switch to virtual came on the heels of a Mississippi State Department of Health report indicating that during the week of Aug. 9-13, WTSD notified the state about 1-5 new positive cases of COVID-19 among students, and 1-5 cases among teachers and staff. At that time, eight students, teachers and staff were said to be under quarantine.
The latest report, released Tuesday, shows that during the week of Aug. 16-20, WTSD had 1-5 new positive cases among students at both R.H. Bearden Elementary and West Tallahatchie High schools. A total of 16 students and three teachers/staff were said to be in quarantine at the high school and one student and one teacher/ staffer at the elementary school.
The latest COVID-19 numbers are much worse in the East Tallahatchie School District, where in-person classes are continuing.
The MSDH report for Aug. 16-20 shows a total of 164 students and two teachers/ staff were under quarantine in Charleston schools, broken down as follows:
» Charleston Elementary School: 1-5 new positive cases among teachers/staff and nine new positive cases among students; one outbreak (defined as three or more individuals diagnosed within the same group within 14 days); two teachers/staff under quarantine and 66 students under quarantine
» Charleston Middle School: 1-5 new positive cases among students and 82 students under quarantine
» Charleston High School: 1-5 new positive cases among students and 16 students under quarantine
— * —
Once WTSD comes off virtual learning, the Chocs can finally play football.
Charleston is scheduled to play at North Pontotoc Sept. 3.
The CHS-WTHS game, part of a long-running series between cross-county rivals dubbed the “Battle of the Golden Egg,” would have marked the kickoff of the 2021 season for both squads.
West Tally first-year head coach Shane Hargett said it is “very disappointing” that his team won’t be able to take the field as scheduled, but he noted, “COVID has kind of sucker-punched a lot of folks,” adding, “We’re just going to do the best we can.”
CHS head coach LaDon Taylor said the egg game is “important to both sides [of the county], both communities,” and said it is unfortunate that the contest won’t happen for a second straight year. Both schools went all-virtual during 2020-21.
“It’s disappointing, but it’s the world we’re living in right now with COVID,” Taylor added.
The egg game began in 1950 and has been played most years since. The teams did not play one another during a four-year span from 1974-1977, nor in 1996, 1998 and 2020.
The winner of the game claims a brass football trophy and, more importantly, countywide bragging rights for a year.
— * —
The East Tallahatchie School District announced Tuesday that although the high school game for this week is off, the scheduled home junior varsity and junior high football game against M.S. Palmer High School of Marks “is still scheduled as normal for Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m., in Charleston.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated that Charleston and West Tallahatchie had played one another in football every year since 1950, except 1996, 1998 and 2020. However, former WTHS head coach David Ellington said the two teams did not face off in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977, but that he reached out to then CHS head coach Clyde Robinson and they agreed to resume the series in 1978.
