Wake may delay start of year-round schools due to COVID-19. And parents are weighing in.
A plan to delay the opening of Wake County’s year-round schools to Aug. 3 is drawing complaints from some parents.
Some parents say Wake County should stick with the originally scheduled July 6 opening date for year-round schools, while others say Aug. 3 is too soon because of the threat of coronavirus. Wake County school leaders said Friday that they’ll consider the feedback before making a decision, but added that state requirements limit what they can do.
“We must ask for everyone’s understanding of our legal limitations as we work towards final calendars, which we expect the board to approve on June 2nd,” Superintendent Cathy Moore said at a news conference Friday.
Since mid-April, Wake has temporarily suspended the use of the year-round calendar, in which students get periodic short breaks during the school year. Those 40,000 students are using the traditional calendar to close out the school year.
All of North Carolina’s public schools are closed for in-person instruction for the rest of the school year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with no certainty about when they’ll reopen.
Families at year-round schools have been clamoring for news about what would happen with next school year. So many people tried to join Tuesday’s virtual school board meeting that it exceeded the 1,000 capacity limit.
On Tuesday, school staff proposed pushing back the start of the 2020-21 school year for year-round and modified-calendar schools to Aug. 3. Traditional-calendar schools are scheduled to open Aug. 17 to comply with temporary changes that state lawmakers approved to the school calendar law.
Wake says it’s prudent to delay
“It is likely that restrictions to protect public health will still be in place in July, which would affect the number of people allowed to be in a building at one time,” Wake said in an online FAQ. “So we didn’t feel it prudent to plan to re-open school in July given that it might not be practical under state health guidelines.”
School officials said lawmakers won’t allow them to start in July with remote learning at the year-round schools.
The delayed opening for year-round schools is leading to changes such as adding 15 minutes to the school day to ensure students meet state requirements for hours of instruction. It’s also leading to the three-week breaks scattered throughout the school year being shortened to two-week breaks.
Parents have weighed in on the reopening debate with comments submitted to Tuesday’s school board meeting and on the online forum created about the calendars (https://wcpss.granicusideas.com/discussions/proposed-2020-21-school-calendars).
“If families can go to the beach, lake, store or a local greenway and attend church, there is no valid or logical reason why they should be prevented from starting school in July,” Heidi Blankenship, a year-round parent, wrote to the school board.
School board chairman Keith Sutton said Friday they’ve heard views from across the spectrum. He said they’re trying to create an environment for next school year that’s suitable for all but provides options for people.
“We’ve seen where parents want a return to school that is normal and we’ve seen or heard from parents who believe that we should not return to school until a vaccine has been found,” Sutton said.
Wake working on how to reopen
Sutton announced Friday that a core team of school employees had been created to developed detailed plans for reopening for in-person instruction and what to do if a COVID-19 outbreak reoccurs. He said the group is focusing on areas such as how to implement social distancing and health guidelines, deliver instruction and meet the social-emotional needs of students and staff.
“Our intention is not merely to survive in 2020-21, but to thrive,” Sutton said. “Our intent is to ensure that every student experiences the learning, relationships and services they need to excel in school and life.”
Sutton said the core team will also look at what changes may be needed for school transportation and child nutrition. Moore said that options such as alternate bus routes or longer routes may be needed.
“We are reviewing what social distancing would have to look like on our school buses,” Moore said.
Another area Moore said is being examined is how to accommodate people who don’t feel comfortable being on campus so soon.
“We are aware that we have both staff and families who have concerns about starting even in August,” Moore said. “We are going to look to see what the options are that we can provide.”
