Wake may join other NC school districts in reopening with online classes only
Updated July 18
Wake County could join the growing list of North Carolina school districts that will start the new school year offering only online classes because officials don’t feel it’s safe yet for students to return for face-to-face classes.
At least 13 North Carolina school districts have decided this week to not begin in-person instruction for the start of the new school year due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state and their area.
In an email Friday to district employees, Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore said the option of opening the school year online is being considered, but has not yet been decided.
Moore said the school board will meet Tuesday to consider changing its July 2 decision to reopen schools by splitting students into groups that will rotate on a schedule of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote learning.
“We want to be clear that the current discussion anticipates moving to some form of in-person instruction as soon as practical,” Moore said in the email. “But as we get closer to opening the 2020-2021 school year, it has become evident that additional time will allow us to ensure that resources are obtained and distributed, necessary health protocols are established and integrated, and staff are prepared to fully implement these new procedures.”
More schools choose online reopening
If Wake switches, it will join districts such as Chatham County, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Durham and Orange County that plan to use remote learning at the beginning of the new school year. Leaders in those districts say they’ll revisit the decision depending on the state’s coronavirus trends.
The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in North Carolina hit a new high Friday as the state added another 2,000 new cases to its total, The News & Observer reported.
“With hospitalizations and infections increasing during the past two weeks, some of our neighboring districts have recently made the choice to reopen schools under plans that offer online instruction only,” Moore said. “We are obviously aware of these decisions.”
Wake County public health officials will present the latest COVID-19 data trends and projections at Tuesday’s school board meeting. Greg Ford, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, said the team won’t make a recommendation to school officials, but it’s a concern that hospitalizations and positive COVID-19 cases are up in Wake.
“Wake County Public Health officials and Emergency Operations Center staff closely monitor COVID-19 trends in four areas,” Ford said Friday in an online message. “Right now, two of those trends are flat, and the other two are increasing. That’s not good.”
All North Carolina K-12 public schools have been closed for in-person instruction since mid-March to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday he’s reopening K-12 public schools in August under a “moderate social distancing” plan that limits how many students can be in schools and on buses. This Plan B also mandates daily temperature checks and health screenings, increased school cleanings and face coverings be worn by all students and school employees.
But Cooper also gave school districts the option to use Plan C, which only has remote instruction. He’s not permitting schools to reopen for full-time, in-person instruction, which is Plan A.
Plan B requires schools to limit capacity in schools so that they can maintain 6 feet of social distancing between people in classrooms. It also requires schools to limit buses to one child per seat unless they’re family members.
People in fear of schools reopening
Chapel Hill-Carrboro interim Superintendent Jim Causby told CHC school board members Thursday that the district couldn’t make Plan B work. State health officials have said that children are at low risk of transmitting COVID-19, but Causby said the research is conflicting on the issue.
“The medical concerns have not eased,” Causby said. “In fact they’re worse. I’m not sure that I’m comfortable in going away from virtual board meetings, and if I’m not comfortable in doing away with virtual board meetings, I’m not certain I’m comfortable bringing kids back in the school building in any kind of numbers.”
Teachers have played a major role in getting school districts to delay reopening. Educators have argued about the health risks of contracting COVID-19 from face-to-face classes and requested in large numbers to be allowed to work from home.
“For the first time in my 12 years as a educator, I’m nervous about my life in the classroom, and I am not the only one,” Jon Tyus, a Durham Public Schools teacher, said in public comments submitted to Thursday’s Durham school board meeting. “It is clear to me and to many others that if we return in-person some students and employees will get sick and unfortunately, some will die. That is a risk that we don’t have to take.”
But some educators feel it’s a mistake not to reopen schools even though districts say the remote learning will be better this fall than it was in the spring. Christine Alston, the librarian and technology teacher at Y.E. Smith Elementary in Durham, told the Durham school board she didn’t think elementary students will benefit from a 100% online environment.
“Additionally, having our youngest students at school makes it easier for parents (and teachers) to work outside of the home,” Alston said in her comments. “I am over 50 years old and realize that I run a higher risk of contracting the COVID virus once I return to the school building, but from my perspective, the benefits outweigh the risks.”
Moore, the Wake superintendent, told the district’s 20,000 school employees that their input is helping to drive the district’s decisions on reopening and that health and safety remain the top priority.
“There are no easy solutions,” Moore said in the email. “Please know that we care about you and we are listening to you. We have been constantly reviewing options as circumstances continue to change and we will continue to do so. “
Interest soars for virtual school in Wake County
The potential shift in Wake County comes as the district is seeing large numbers of families pursue a virtual option to avoid the risk of being on campus.
As of Friday morning, 44,691 students had signed up for the new Wake Virtual Academy, around 28% of the district’s total enrollment. The registration period ends Monday. But Wake tweeted Friday that it will reopen the registration period if the school board decides Tuesday not to use Plan B.
Students in the Virtual Academy don’t have to worry about being forced to go back for in-person instruction if Wake were to use Plan A or Plan B during the school year.
Wake County school board chairman Keith Sutton cited the strong demand for the Virtual Academy, the concerns of parents and teachers and the rising number of COVID-19 cases for the district considering a switch to Plan C. He said the county and state health trends are worse than they were when they had voted for Plan B two weeks ago.
“We’re being responsive to the concerns raised by the community,” Sutton said in an interview Friday.
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 1:15 PM.
