More than 7,000 South Carolina students have gone unheard from since the beginning of the pandemic and officials are working to track them down

• More than 7,000 South Carolina students haven't been heard from since schools went virtual.
• The state has asked safety officials to track down the students to make sure they're safe.
• While many of the students and families likely have reasons for not communicating with the schools, politicians worry that some might be in danger, according to the Post and Courier.

Since classes went virtual last semester, South Carolina schools have been unable to get in contact with 7,400 students, the Post and Courier reported.

State officials have asked child safety workers to try and track down each of the children to ensure they're not in danger.

"Chances are, out of (7,400) students, not everyone is safe," Sen. Katrina Shealy, a Republican, told the Post and Courier.

Shealy chairs a special Senate committee that called on school districts to report the unaccounted-for students to the state's education department.

Some districts, including those in rural regions, have said more than 10% of their students could not be reached, The State reported.

Many of the cases will likely not result in the involvement of social service intervention, but every district has been asked to turn over lists of the unaccounted-for children to the Department of Social Services, the paper reported.

It's likely that a large chunk of the families who haven't gotten in contact with schools have moved, are lacking internet connectivity, or have other easily explainable issues, the paper reported.

As of last Friday, 53 of the state's 81 public school districts had turned over their lists to social services.

The state is providing assistance and told to districts that it might not have the bandwidth to try and make contact with every student on their own.

"We are confident that South Carolina school districts are using all the tools and resources at their disposal to make contact with students," a spokesman for Education Superintendent Molly Spearman told the Post and Courier.