Will NC students return to class this school year? Governor says decision is coming soon.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday that he expects to make an announcement this week on whether the state’s K-12 public schools will reopen this school year.
Cooper has said he wasn’t giving up on reopening this school year when he ordered all schools to be closed through May 15. On Tuesday, Cooper said he should be making an announcement this week on school closures, as well as on the statewide stay-at-home restrictions that are set to expire next week.
“Our public health team is looking at what is needed in order to be able to make sure that children are safe at school,” Cooper said at a news conference Tuesday. “We’re talking with the school superintendents, with the State Board of Education, with the Department of Public Instruction about the art of the possible and what kinds of things we can do to make sure that we would keep children safe.
“We’ll be making an announcement, probably this week as well, regarding schools.”
Thirty-four states, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia have already ordered or recommended school building closures for the rest of the academic year due to COVID-19, affecting about 38.6 million public school students, according to Education Week.
Cooper’s comments come as the number of cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina has risen to more than 6,900. Residents remain under a statewide stay-at-home order.
Schools have been closed since Cooper’s first executive order on March 14. The school year for most students runs into June.
Schools switch to remote learning
Cooper’s existing order closing school buildings applies to in-person instruction. Some schools reopened to serve as emergency childcare centers for people such as healthcare and public safety personnel.
Schools switched to provide remote instruction so students can keep learning. Many schools are providing computers and printed materials to students who don’t have the technology to learn from home.
Cooper said he thanked school employees and parents for their efforts to keep children learning during the closures.
“I know that the parents are so frustrated to have their children at home and not getting the kind of education they would want to have,” Cooper said. “I think there are a lot of good things going on out there, but nothing substitutes for being in the classroom and learning.
“A lot of our efforts are going to be working toward a goal of getting toward a new normal where we can feel safe with our children in school by getting them there as soon as we can to make sure that they can get a quality education.”
Questions still exist, such as how final spring semester grades will be issued to students.
The State Board of Education took care of the issue for high school seniors by saying they’d get a passing grade instead of a traditional letter grade if they were passing a class as of March 13. Spring semester grades won’t count for seniors in their grade-point-average.
But what’s unclear is what will happen to the students in the other grades. The state board is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposed grading policy.
In the meantime, many districts like Wake County aren’t grading the schoolwork being given by teachers because not all students are able to get online. Wake County school officials say only 50% to 75% of students have been taking part in the online classes at some schools as the district tries to finish distributing 28,000 computers and 10,500 mobile hotspots to families.
Legislative changes to help schools with COVID-19
Questions also exist about what legislative changes may be sought to help schools deal with COVID-19.
The state board got federal permission to not offer standardized tests this school year to students. The state board is asking state lawmakers to temporarily suspend requirements on student testing, school grading and teacher licensure renewal.
A state House committee is considering recommending approval of those waiver requests. It’s not as clear though whether they’ll support a potential request from the state board to waive the school calendar law to start classes next school year in early August.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 3:05 PM.
