Wake elementary students could start daily, in-person classes in November. See the plan.
Wake County elementary students could return for daily, in-person classes in November after having not been in school buildings since March.
Wake County school administrators recommended Wednesday having PreK-5 students and K-12 special-education students in regional programs start Oct. 26 with a rotation of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of online courses. Those students would shift to daily, in-person classes on Nov. 16.
The plan also has middle school and high school students start the three-week rotation on Nov. 9. But Superintendent Cathy Moore said that grades 6-12 could stay with only getting online courses for the rest of the semester, which ends in January.
The school board will vote on the plan Tuesday. The vote comes as parents are asking for a return to in-person instruction while administrators and teachers say it’s not safe to return yet.
Community urged to unify around school reopening
Moore said it’s been “painful for groups to blame each other for a situation that none of us control.”
“We have heard from parents and families about how hard it is on them as well,” Moore said. “But we must also acknowledge the genuine anxieties of teachers and the demands that we are placing on them every day.
“We cannot create a workplace that’s free of risk, but I do feel that we are ethically required to do all we can to make schools as safe as possible for a return to in-person instruction without dismissing or discounting the fact that we are asking teachers to accomplish a task that many of us cannot and frankly probably would not take on ourselves.”
Wake County’s 162,000 students haven’t had in-person instruction since Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all North Carolina public schools closed in March to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Cooper initially allowed school districts to reopen in August under “Plan B,” an option that allows schools to have in-person classes if they limit the number of students on campus and on school buses. Most districts opted to start the school year only using remote classes, known as “Plan C.”
More districts are bringing their students back for in-person classes as the school year enters its second month. Due to the capacity limits, they’re using a hybrid model in which students alternate between taking classes in-person and online.
Last week, Cooper announced he’ll allow school districts to open elementary schools on “Plan A” starting Oct. 5. This option has no capacity restrictions, so elementary students could get full-time, daily, in-person instruction.
Elementary schools that switch to Plan A will still have to follow new safety protocols such as requiring students and employees to pass daily temperature checks and health screenings before they’re allowed on campus. Students and staff will also have to wear face coverings on school buses and at school.
Wake to phase in return of students
Moore said it’s responsible and prudent to reopen schools on a rotation system before moving to daily in-person classes.
“We support the return to in-person instruction as long as public health officials say that in-person instruction is safe and schools can continue to meet protective standards,” Keith Poston, president of the business-backed WakeEd Partnership, said in a statement. ”A phased return to school appears to be the best approach at the moment.
But the plan fell short for Wake County Families to Safely Reopen Schools, a Facebook group that has more than 5,000 members. Kelly Mann, the group’s founder, said the school board “disappointed children today.”
“We had faith and hope going into the meeting, but there was a circus of distractions that kept conversations from moving in the urgent way that is required in an emergency such as this,” Mann said in an email. “Our request remains the same that our children are phased in by early October and that all children k-12 get to experience a significant period of meaningful learning in a classroom and with a teacher.”
Even when Wake County students return to in-person classes, the district will continue to operate the new Virtual Academy program for families who only want to take online courses. More than 85,000 students signed up for the Virtual Academy.
Enough students have signed up for the Virtual Academy that Moore said the year-round schools will stay on a single track calendar for the rest of the semester.
Weekly asynchronous learning day
Moore warned that reopening for in-person classes will be a burden for some teachers who have to juggle teaching the face-to-face classes and online classes, as well as the Virtual Academy courses. Teachers have complained that it’s taking more time to plan their online lessons than it did their in-person ones.
“Our teachers and administrators have worked themselves to exhaustion to make remote learning successful for tens of thousands of children, and I’m sure they will do again what has to be done for Plan B as we move towards returning to fully in-person instruction,” Moore said.
“But we need to publicly acknowledge that they do not have the resources that are needed to succeed at the levels that we know are needed.”
To help teachers as well as families concerned about too much screen time, the plan calls for one “asynchronous learning day” each week where students wouldn’t attend in-person classes or go online for live instruction. Instead, Wake says teachers can assign a variety of activities and include instructional resources such as recorded instructional videos, assigned activities, off-line assignments or meeting with small groups.
The “asynchronous day” would apply to all of Wake’s students but the day would vary weekly.
Consequences for not wearing face masks
School leaders said there will be consequences for students and school employees who don’t follow rules such as wearing the face coverings. Only people with issues such as medical or developmental concerns are excused from wearing face coverings.
Teachers who refuse to be wear face coverings may be removed from the building, according to administrators. Students face being sent back to virtual classes.
Moore said they may need to show “tough love” to people on why it’s important to wear face coverings at school.
“(A mask) is an incredibly effective way to ensure that we are opening our schools safely, and that’s something that we can just not compromise on,” she said.
School board member Jim Martin said he wants to hear more details so teachers will know what to do if they encounter students who willfully refuse to wear face masks. He said students should know that coming back to in-person instruction comes with the knowledge they’ll comply with district policies.
“It’s very important that the community know that coming back to in-person in whatever format is a privilege,” Martin said. “It’s not a guaranteed right.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 3:11 PM.
