Chapel Hill-Carrboro plans to reopen schools soon. See who’s going back first.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools students in adaptive programs and working students taking evening classes will return to a mix of in-person and remote classes over the next few weeks.
The school board voted unanimously Thursday to make the change but delayed deciding when all K-12 students could return to similar Plan B classes. The district also will resume SAT and ACT testing on Saturdays, as well as CTE and end-of-course testing.
Last month, roughly 200 students began in-person driver’s education and others returned for sports, starting with volleyball, cross country and field hockey. Other sports workouts and tryouts are expected to start over the next several months.
The district’s nearly 12,300 students have been in virtual-only classes — what the state calls Plan C — since the school year began Aug. 17. The timeline now is for all students to remain in Plan C until at least Jan. 15.
Adaptive students and students in Phoenix Academy’s SPIRE program will get details about returning to school by Nov. 25, interim Superintendent Jim Causby said. SPIRE students work full time and take English learning classes, courses for graduation or alternative programs in the evening.
About 63 adaptive students with disabilities are expected to return Dec. 7, attending in-person classes in the morning and remote classes in the afternoon four days a week, he said. All classes would be remote on Wednesdays.
The plan for K-12 students remains a return to hybrid classes in the spring semester, which starts in late January.
Those students would return in two groups, with one attending in-person classes on Monday and Tuesday, and the other attending in-person classes on Thursday and Friday. Students would attend remote classes when not in person, and schools would undergo a deep cleaning on Wednesdays and weekends.
K-12 parents will get a survey by Nov. 30 asking whether their children will return to in-person classes or stay remote for the spring semester, and whether they need transportation, Causby said. Students from the same family will have the same schedule, he said.
The school board also will return to socially distanced meetings early next year, with limited public seating.
Adaptive students, K-12 parent survey
Board Chair Mary Ann Wolf said her concern is that a phase-in of students in the second semester means some won’t actually return until March.
“My concern is in terms of disruption of learning and changing processes. It truly is more than halfway through the third quarter,” Wolf said. “It just feels like there’s a way to be working in multiple schools and still take advantage of all the learning (from the first students to return), I think, if we’re going forward with this.”
The timeline for returning all Chapel Hill-Carrboro students to in-person learning — and any decision about closing schools again — will depend on the community’s COVID-19 infection rates, Causby said.
In Orange County, the number of cases grew from roughly 75 per 100,000 people on Oct. 3 to 166 per 100,000 people on Thursday, state data showed. The percentage of cases for those under age 18 also increased — to 8% — after holding at 7% for months.
However, Orange County’s numbers remain “the lowest in the area and considerably lower than some,” Causby said.
The Orange County Schools district reopened Oct. 27 for pre-K students and those in separate exceptional children’s classes. All teachers are expected to return to school in person this month, although the district’s K-12 students aren’t expected until late January.
Durham Public Schools also is planning to bring students back in January.
Wake County began bringing back elementary students and some special-education students last week. Middle school students could return next week, followed by high school students in January.
Wake County officials have reported 21 positive cases at 17 schools since reopening. However, state health officials have said the reopening of schools is not driving the state’s increase in COVID-19 cases.
Safe return for staff, students
Meanwhile, the district is asking staff to volunteer for the in-person adaptive program, SPIRE classes and testing, Causby said. If they don’t get enough volunteers, all staff could be asked to return if they don’t have an approved exception.
Staff who will work with students in-person, as well as those working at local YMCA learning centers, will get a $250 stipend. COVID-19 funding will cover the stipends, estimated at just over $500,000.
The response has been “fairly good” so far, Causby said.
The ABC Science Collaborative of medical and research experts working with dozens of school districts statewide has said students and staff could safely return to school by observing recommended practices, such as washing their hands, wearing masks and keeping a physical distance from each other.
“Our folks are just giving this everything they’ve got and they’ve done such a wonderful job with it,” Causby said. “They’re teaching all day, they’re planning all night, they’ve got their families ... and they’re concerned. Until they actually can get back into it and see it can be done safely, they’re going to be scared.”
The district will provide students and staff with the necessary protective equipment, including face masks and shields, and require them to pass temperature checks and health assessments before entering the schools, Causby said.
The district also will provide transportation and food services to students who need it, as well as child care options for staff, he said.
Emotional, social, academic support
Board members continued to express concerns Thursday about how to provide in-person and remote students with more social and emotional support during COVID-19.
Teachers also want to make that a priority, said Charlos Banks, the district’s senior executive director of student services.
She noted that the district has offered professional learning on how teachers can connect with students and teach them calming strategies. Student services staff also has trained in SPARK, a program that helps students deal with acute stress and trauma, she said.
“One of the things that we know we are going to have to emphasize with our students is this whole idea of rights and responsibilities ... and part of that is going to be creating safe and socially inclusive schools,” Banks said.
Board member Ashton Powell also offered some advice from his own experience as a teacher at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham.
Hybrid learning and teaching “is a huge challenge,” Powell said, and it’s important to adjust academic expectations and offer support.
“First of all, I’m exhausted, but every time I see my students, it is worthwhile,” Powell said. “I don’t feel unsafe while doing it, but I do worry about my students and their mental health … because they’re under so much pressure to perform so that they can compete with other kids who may have better grades, but no one really knows their grades, and that pressure is huge.“
