Could Orange County students return to classroom by October? Here is a plan.
The Orange County Schools Board of Education will consider bringing students back to the classroom under Plan B — meeting in person at least every other week — on Sept. 28.
The plan, as recommended, could be implemented in late October. Teachers, staff and families will be surveyed this week, and teacher focus groups will meet with principals, Superintendent Monique Felder said.
The district hasn’t made any decisions yet, board member Will Atherton emphasized.
“It’s really just us trying to make sure that we’re asking all the questions, getting them all out, getting some understanding around it and making sure that we pull in teachers and others so that everybody understands what it would look like,” he said at Monday night’s board meeting
Board member Bonnie Hauser said she “would love to hear what our teachers have to say and what teachers who are working under that (hybrid model) have to say.”
Felder recommended moving to a phased-in return just days after Gov. Roy Cooper announced the state’s public schools could consider a full reopening Oct. 5 for K-5 students. Middle and high school students still have to follow the state’s physical distancing guidelines that limit how many people can be on campus.
The N.C. Association of Educators is asking teachers to lobby against returning to daily in-person instruction.
Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials have consulted with health officials and Duke University and UNC Health Care researchers and physicians about when and how to safely return students to school.
Felder noted Monday that Orange County’s percentage of positive COVID-19 tests — one of four factors for returning to school — has fallen below the required threshold.
The county reported 2,594 positive cases as of Monday afternoon, continuing a downward trajectory in new cases since late August. Roughly 47% of those cases involved residents ages 18-24, while only 8% involved those under age 18, the data showed.
“I know we continue to depend on the metrics, and today, I’m happy to report that the percent positive in Orange County is below 3%, which is encouraging,” Felder said.
Returning to the classroom
The district’s recommended plan would split its nearly 7,500 students into two groups based on their last names. One group would meet in person Monday through Thursday and online on Friday for the first week, while the other group would meet online all week. The groups would rotate schedules each week.
Students and staff who return to in-person classes will have their temperatures taken daily, wear masks, and wash or sanitize their hands before entering the building, officials said. Students will eat lunch in their classrooms or outside, and classroom capacity will be limited to 50%, they said.
The change could be phased in, letting staff get used to the new procedures, identify possible COVID infections and reduce how much deep cleaning would be necessary, Felder said. The proposed phases include:
▪ Phase 1: Exceptional children in separate classes, pre-kindergarten students, and K-2 and sixth graders would return to traditional schools Oct. 27 and year-round schools Nov. 2. Orientation would be held at the schools Oct. 21-22.
▪ Phase 2: Students in grades 3-5 and 7-9 would return to traditional schools Nov. 2 and year-round schools Nov. 5. Orientation would be held Oct. 28-29 for traditional schools and Nov. 2-4 for year-round schools.
▪ Phase 3: Grades 10-12 would return to class Nov. 9, with an orientation on Nov. 4.
Student athletes also could begin outside-only workouts next month, she said, starting with cross-country runners and volleyball teams Oct. 14. Other sports could begin working out on a staggered schedule starting Nov. 9
Atherton suggested the district also consider how to bring back older students taking career and technical courses during the first phase, since their classes require more hands-on work.
Safety, timeline concerns
In all, board members spent about an hour Monday asking questions and raising concerns and suggestions. Chair Hillary MacKenzie offered to forward the board’s ideas to staff, who could include the questions and answers in next week’s board agenda.
Most of the questions revolved around safety, such as whether the district considered regular COVID-19 testing for students and staff and what would happen if a student or staff member ends up sick.
MacKenzie admitted being nervous about the return to school, saying the proposed timeline is “much too fast for my comfort level.”
“If we’re going to do this, I hope that we will all get on a school bus with our masks on and ride around to our different schools, walk through them, sit in classrooms, talk about how it’s going to work at each school,” MacKenzie said. “If we’re asking our students and teachers to be back … if it’s good enough for our staff, then it has to be good enough for us.”
Board member Sarah Smylie echoed Atherton’s concerns about ensuring good ventilation in classrooms, especially since students and staff would remove their masks to eat lunch. She also advocated for giving staff the option of working remotely or in person.
“I think that when people are very scared, it is very hard to do your job really well,” she said. “I do think there’s a big difference between someone identifying as high risk and requesting accommodations for themselves vs. their grandmother lives with them and they’re worried about it.”
Wake and Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools weigh options
Many parents and students, especially those with special needs or in at-risk groups, have expressed frustration with classes that force students to sit in front of a computer screen for hours every day and reduce opportunities for socializing with their friends. Some have shared concerns about their children falling behind.
The school board heard from multiple parents, including those who joined a Facebook group, Re-Open Orange County Schools, to advocate for in-person classes at the board’s Sept. 14 meeting. The board did not hear from the public Monday.
Other districts also are considering their options as the number of daily positive cases begins to decline across the state and pressure grows to return children to school. Many schools will continue to offer an online-only Virtual Academy for parents and students who prefer to continue remote learning after in-person classes resume.
Wake County officials surveyed parents this weekend about their preferences ahead of a school board meeting Wednesday. The Wake County School Board is expected to discuss a timeline and four options for bringing the district’s 162,000 students back to school.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro’s school board also will take up the discussion Oct. 1, interim Superintendent Jim Causby said in a Sept. 18 email to parents. In August, Chapel Hill-Carrboro became one of the few districts statewide to extend virtual-only classes to mid-January.
“If you look at the table in the CDC website, our community currently falls in the moderate to higher risk of transmission in the school setting,” Causby said. “These metrics are also not the only consideration. We must also consider whether we can implement in-person learning well and equitably. This component is also critical to the decision-making process.”
Staff writer T. Keung Hui contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 8:30 AM.
