New childcare facility opening in Campbell County ‘daycare desert’
School leaders say closest daycare was 30 miles away
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CAMPBELL COUNTY, Va. – For many Brookneal parents, childcare can be hard to find because the area is considered a “daycare desert.”
“One of the parents I spoke to would get up at 4 a.m. and would drive all the way to the other side of Lynchburg to drop their children off, to come back here to be at work by 6 a.m.” said Nicole Crews, an early childhood education teacher.
That’s because, according to Crews, the closest childcare facility is about 30 miles away.
Now that the Lynchburg area is in Phase 1b of COVID-19 vaccinations, with the first round of essential workers immunized this week, rollout should prove to be slow and steady, given a limited supply of doses.
The Central Virginia Health District, composed of Lynchburg and surrounding counties, entered into Phase 1b â the second of four planned phases â Wednesday, which opens up vaccinations to a list of different front-line essential workers, people age 65 and older, people ages 16 to 65 with certain conditions or disabilities, and people in certain enclosed group living situations such as jails and homeless shelters.
Some vaccinations of 1b recipients started as early as Wednesday, CVHD Director Dr. Kerry Gateley said at a Friday news conference, and 300 essential government and school workers in Lynchburg were receiving doses Friday in what city officials said is the first such larger-scale immunization of many yet to come.
A Bedford County Public Schools staff member died this week due to complications from COVID-19.
At its Thursday night meeting, the Bedford County School Board held a moment of silence for Charles Ragland who died Jan. 13 according to his obituary. Jason Johnson, who was elected as chairman of the board at Thursdayâs meeting, said Ragland suffered complications from COVID-19. This is the first COVID-19-related death reported by the division.
Ryan Edwards, spokesperson for the division, said Ragland was an employee in the divisionâs transportation department.
Johnson said he hoped for âpeace and comfort to the family and all who knew and loved Mr. Ragland.â
With growing concern about learning loss and in-person learning time, Campbell County Public Schools administrators are considering what secondary school scheduling options will allow students to make up for that lost time during the next school year.
While planning for the current atypical school year â complete with a mix of in-person, hybrid and remote learning models â division officials chose to switch most secondary schools from the typical student schedule of seven yearlong classes to a schedule of four classes per semester.
At Monday nightâs Campbell County School Board meeting, division administrators shared with the board the challenges and successes it has seen this year with that schedule.
Lynchburg-area school divisions report 65 new positive COVID-19 cases this week; Bedford accounts for 30 newsadvance.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsadvance.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.