As NC school districts work to reopen, they know some parents will be left unhappy
The decision on how to reopen North Carolina public schools in August is pitting families of young students against those of high school students.
School districts are preparing to reopen under state health requirements that limit how many students can be on campus. Some districts plan to use their limited capacity to offer daily classes only for younger students — at the cost of eliminating in-person classes for older students.
Other districts plan to use a rotation where students will split time between taking classes at school and learning from home. This is an option that will create childcare burdens for some families.
“This is no commentary on what other districts may have decided and what’s in their plans,” Drew Cook, Wake’s assistant superintendent for academics, said at last week’s school board meeting. “Everybody has to make decisions based on the resources and the feedback that they have access to.”
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.
The state is requiring schools to develop three reopening plans: minimal social distancing, moderate social distancing and remote learning only. Gov. Roy Cooper will decide in July which statewide plan to use, with schools having the option of using a more restrictive plan.
Some districts haven’t released their plans yet. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board will discuss a reopening plan on Thursday.
Based on trends showing rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, school districts are expecting to use Plan B. It requires “moderate social distancing” and limits school building and bus capacity.
But not all Plan B approaches are the same, and everyone acknowledges that some families will be left unhappy.
“To be clear, there is simply not one perfect districtwide plan for how we implement this Plan B model in each and every school that will work well for every situation,” Brian Pittman, Wake’s senior director of high school programs, said at last week’s board meeting.
Daily classes for K-8 students
Durham Public Schools plan to have elementary and middle school students, special-education students and English-As-A-Second language students go to school every day for in-person instruction, the Herald Sun previously reported.
But that would require Durham high school students to take their classes completely online. This will allow the district to use the high schools for classes for younger students in Plan B.
Durham Superintendent Pascal Mubenga said providing younger students with daily in-person instruction will provide families with stability. An option to give high school students one day a week of in-person classes by requiring the younger students to have remote instruction for one day each week was nixed.
“I think our elementary to middle school parents are going to be very grateful to be able to go to work for five days not worrying about daycare,” Mubenga said at the June 25 school board meeting.
But Durham school leaders also say they’re working to identify ways to ensure that high school students remain engaged and receive socio-emotional support.
Schools look to rotate students
Other districts are looking to use a rotational system where not every student will have daily in-person classes.
In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system’s Plan B, elementary and middle school students will be split into groups. They’ll rotate on a schedule of one week of in-person classes with two weeks of remote instruction.
At the high school level, CMS students in grades nine through 11 will also follow a three-week rotational schedule, but will have remote learning on all Fridays, the Charlotte Observer previously reported. For seniors, classes will be remote every week except for Fridays, which will be in person.
The Wake County school system also plans to use a three-week rotation system. But unlike CMS, all Wake high school students would follow the rotation used by the younger students.
The rotation system isn’t perfect for high school students. Dragana Mendel, whose son will attend Enloe High School in Raleigh in August, said she doesn’t understand how Wake will accommodate the needs of high school students in this schedule.
“With so many moving parts: four core classes, four electives, three shifts, bus rides, how will Enloe High School organize the schedule for the next school year?” Mendel said. “How will school figure out how to group students into three different cohorts?”
Wake had looked at options such as having high school students go with only remote learning as a way to get younger students on campus every day. But Cook, the assistant superintendent, said that option “would come at the expense of another large groups of students at a very critical stage of their educational career with our high school students.”
Even if they were to put the younger students at high schools, Cook said Wake would be challenged staffing those buildings to work with the younger children.
Kindergarten parents complain about rotating schedules
But the plan to use a rotational system is drawing complaints from parents of younger students.
“Under Plan B, how do you expect my kindergartener to learn anything?” Nathan Routh tweeted to Wake last week. “He should be at school every day. He will learn nothing for the 2 weeks he spends at home. Totally stupid plan for K’s!!!”
Other parents are complaining the schedule will hurt working families.
“@WCPSS serious question — you realize parents work, right?” Ashley Llamas tweeted last week. “How am I supposed to do my job when I have to help my not-even-turned-5-year-old on remote kindergarten 2 weeks at a time? And what on earth can a kindergartner possibly learn with this set-up?”
Wake school leaders say they’re meeting with different childcare providers to provide families with a list of available options. The district is also trying to raise private funding to help some families pay for childcare. But the district’s priority is to help teachers find childcare for their children.
Wake is looking at bringing in Pre-K students and children in special-education regional programs for daily instruction. This is a relatively small number of children.
School board members are encouraging administrators to bring elementary school students back for daily classes as soon as possible. School officials say they may have the space if fewer students come to school and ride the buses than planned after reopening.
“I really feel very strongly about our Pre-K-2 kids getting back into our schools as quickly as possible, if not all elementary,” Wake school board vice chairwoman Roxie Cash said at last week’s meeting. “I’m a little worried about young children going from classroom to daycare and back to classroom again.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 1:13 PM.
