Editor’s note: The Times is counting down 2020’s most noteworthy stories as determined by The Times editorial staff.

Out of all of the effects that COVID-19 has caused on daily lives in 2020, those effects have likely been felt the most in the county’s classrooms.

The first impacts from the virus came in the spring, when schools across the state were closed after the first cases began to appear in schools.

The sudden end to in-person learning in March saw teachers and administrators scrambling to develop virtual lesson plans to try to make sure students were still able to complete their school year, and both the Cullman City and Cullman County school systems worked to provide laptops and wi-fi hotspots to students who didn’t have access to them at home.

May’s graduation ceremonies were also impacted, with the usual commencements in Wallace State Community College’s Tom Drake Coliseum canceled due to the close proximity of graduates and attendees.

After some uncertainty about whether or not they would get to have a graduation, the county’s Class of 2020 was able to have commencement ceremonies on each high school’s football field in May.

By the time the new school year came around in August, the state had developed a Back to School Toolkit that provided a new set of guidelines and procedures for school systems to follow. Those new guidelines included the steps that schools needed to take when a student or staff member tested positive for the virus or had symptoms.

The toolkit also offered three learning options for school systems to use, depending on the severity of COVID-19 cases in their areas. School systems can use a traditional in-class option, a fully-online remote option or a hybrid of the two that brings students to school on certain days to keep classrooms and hallways less crowded.

School systems also offered students the option of attending school in-person or having an entirely online schedule to minimize the risks to them or family members who may be more susceptible to the virus.

The state has not had any say in whether schools close or move to a hybrid schedule due to COVID-19 outbreaks, but both the city and county school systems have adjusted their schedules to help limit the spread of the virus among students and staff.

Cullman High School moved to a hybrid schedule in September, with half of the student body attending school on Monday and Tuesday and the other half attending on Thursday and Friday.

The Cullman County School System also moved to a hybrid schedule for middle school and high school students in October, with the same format of half of the schools’ students attending in-person at a time.

The changes brought about due to COVID-19 have had an adverse effect on students’ learning, with both the city and county systems seeing lower scores on benchmark exams that are meant to ensure that students are learning what they need to advance to the next grade.

Officials in both systems pointed out that the abrupt end to the previous school year in March set students back, and teachers and students are still working to catch up.

“Looking at the benchmark tests we conducted at the beginning of this school year, there are indications that some students scored lower than we would have liked, which we attribute to the disruption at the end of last school year,” Cullman City Schools Superintendent Susan Patterson said in November. “But we have a plan in place to address that, and we are already providing extra support for the students that are not meeting benchmarks at this time.”

Some students who chose to learn virtually have also been struggling during the school year, with some just needing some extra assistance while others have not been logging on to do their work.

To make sure students don’t fall too far behind while they are learning virtually, the Cullman County School System is also taking the step of requiring failing virtual students to return to traditional learning unless they have a medical reason for staying at home.

“A lot of them who were struggling have decided to come back, but for the ones who have decided not to, we’re going to have to say ‘For your kids’ sake, we’re going to need them to come back unless there is a health issue,’” Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette said in November.

Impacts from COVID-19 on local schools will continue into 2021, as the Cullman City School System has already announced that Cullman High School will remain on a hybrid schedule into the new year and students in the Cullman County School System will be learning remotely for the first two weeks of the new semester.

After the week-long break for Thanksgiving, the system saw a spike in cases as students and staff members returned to school, so delaying the start of in-person learning will hopefully minimize any spike in cases after the holidays, Barnette said earlier this month.

“We’re doing this as a precaution for a potential spike after Christmas,” he said. “By doing this, I feel good that we’ll know where we’re at before we come back to school.”