Here’s how Wake County plans to reopen schools in August
Wake County will reopen schools in August at one-third capacity, with students rotating in and out of campus on a weekly basis, unless the state allows looser social distancing requirements.
Gov. Roy Cooper delayed his decision Wednesday on whether schools should reopen this fall under minimal social distancing, moderate social distancing or with remote learning only. With no definitive state word yet, the Wake County school board unanimously approved Thursday a reopening plan that will have students split weeks between learning on campus and learning from home.
School leaders could still switch to full in-person instruction or full remote learning depending on what the state decides. But they said deciding now will help the community plan for when students return to school in August.
“We do feel that it is important for our families to go ahead and say ‘This is what we believe is best at this time,’” Superintendent Cathy Moore told the school board. “And we know that there remains another four to six weeks before most of our schools will actually open and there may be changing scenarios there.”
Rotating schedules will cause challenges
Under the “moderate social distancing” model, Wake school administrators recommended splitting the system’s 161,907 students into three groups. They would rotate for one week of in-person instruction followed by two weeks of remote instruction from home.
Students living at the same address would be put in the same rotation.
The rotating schedule would complicate child care. The district hopes to have details on options for families by the end of July and will give priority to helping teachers with their childcare needs, district spokesman Tim Simmons said.
This plan would also require the multi-track year-round schools to switch to using the track 4 schedule. Other Wake schools would keep their current calendar.
“If I were a teacher being asked to go into this plan, I would still have huge questions about whether I’m going to be able to be successful at my job,” said school board member Jim Martin.
For students who don’t feel comfortable returning to campus until a COVID-19 vaccine is found, a new Wake Virtual Academy will be offered. Students won’t lose their spot at their current school but would be expected to stay at the virtual academy for at least a semester.
The application period for the Virtual Academy will start July 13.
Drew Cook, assistant superintendent for academics, said Wake plans to keep the Virtual Academy as a permanent program.
Daily health screenings required
The new world of school this fall will also require students to pass a state-mandated daily symptom screening check before they’re allowed on school buses. Parents can fill out a daily form attesting their child isn’t sick to allow them to board without answering questions.
Wake will ask that a responsible adult or older sibling be with elementary school students at the bus stop if they don’t have the form filled out.
If the student fails the symptom check, Wake will require the driver to park the bus and wait with the student until a parent picks up the child. Bus delays are expected.
Once on campus, students, school employees and visitors will daily be required to pass both a symptom check and a temperature check or they’ll be sent home.
Face masks required for teachers, most students
School employees, middle school students and high school students will also be required to wear face coverings to comply with an executive order from Cooper. Some exceptions will be allowed such as for religious beliefs or medical or behavioral conditions.
Elementary school students will be strongly recommended to wear face masks.
All students riding school buses or in special-ed transportation will be required to wear face coverings, with some exceptions.
All North Carolina public schools have been closed since mid-March to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Schools have been asked to draw up reopening under three plans. They can use a more restrictive plan than the one chosen by Cooper but not a less restrictive one.
Under Plan A, schools would reopen at full capacity but with steps such as the daily temperature and screening checks and face mask requirements.
Under Plan B, the state would restrict schools to 50% capacity.
Wake says it would use 33% capacity due to restrictions that limit how many students can ride buses. Staff also said having only a third of the students on campus would make it easier to do the health screenings and find enough classroom space to adhere to new social distancing requirements.
“I’m not completely satisfied that this is the best plan to move forward,” said school board member Bill Fletcher. “I do believe it meets a lot of the challenges that we face as a district and as a community to deal with the health and safety of our students and staff in reassembling our schools.”
Under Plan C, schools would continue with remote instruction.
State decision in ‘next couple of weeks’
Cooper said Wednesday he expects to make a school reopening announcement in the “next couple of weeks.” State officials say the public needs to practice steps such as wearing face coverings in public to improve the chances of students returning to in-person classes in August.
Both Wake County surveys and a statewide poll show the public is split on what reopening plan to use.
The option of sending students back part-time on Plan B drew the most support in a new Elon University poll at 38%, followed by 34% for Plan A and 29% for Plan C. The poll was done in partnership with The News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and Herald-Sun.
Forty-three percent of Wake school employees said in a district survey they’d prefer using Plan B this fall, followed by 29% for Plan C and 28% for Plan A.
Both Plan A and Plan B were tied at 35% each as the preferred choices for Wake parents with 22% wanting Plan C.
“I think it’s important that we all are very clear to the folks of Wake County that this is a difficult decision and there’s no way we could come up with a perfect structure for every single family,” said school board member Monika Johnson-Hostler. “
But the business community threw its support behind Wake’s plan.
“We believe the plan spelled out today is a comprehensive and detailed approach that addresses the various needs and concerns that have been expressed while acknowledging the reality of the public health crisis our nation still faces,” Keith Poston, president of WakeEd Partnership, a business-backed group that supports public schools.
“The upcoming school year is going to be challenging and different than what any of us want, but it can and will be successful if we pull together as a community and focus on our priority which should be our children,” he said.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 12:46 PM.
