Wake middle and high school students could return to daily, in-person classes in April
Wake County middle school and high school students could resume daily in-person instruction in April — more than a year after they last had regular face-to-face instruction.
Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore recommended Tuesday that the district switch from a hybrid of in-person and online classes to daily in-person classes for all students not in the Virtual Academy. The option is now available because of a recently approved state law eliminating the provision that requires 6 feet of social distancing, which previously was required for secondary schools.
Moore is recommending that modified-calendar schools and early colleges switch to Plan A daily instruction on April 5. Traditional-calendar secondary schools would switch on April 8, and year-round calendar middle schools would switch April 14.
Wake’s elementary schools are already offering daily in-person instruction. Moore said moving middle school and high schools to Plan A for the final quarter of classes “is of tremendous benefit to our students and can be implemented safely.“
“These changes are driven by a growing consensus from health officials at both the national and state level,” Moore said. “The effects on children when not in person now outweigh the diminishing health risks of COVID-19.”
The school board could vote on the proposal Monday. But the vote comes as board members deal with concerns from some teachers that it’s not safe to switch to Plan A and that the change could lead to major scheduling disruptions.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 6 feet of social distancing in middle schools and high schools to try to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
But the ABC Science Collaborative, a group formed by Duke University to advise on school reopening, says schools can safely operate with 3 feet of social distancing as long as they follow proper safety protocols such as requiring face masks.
More students return for daily classes
The momentum has been growing to increase the amount of in-person instruction given to students at all grade levels.
Last week, Gov. Roy Cooper signed legislation that requires North Carolina school districts to offer in-person instruction to every student this school year. At the same time, the new law also says remote instruction must still be offered to those students who don’t want in-person classes.
Elementary school students and special-education students must be offered full-time, daily, in-person instruction under an option called Plan A, in which “minimal social distancing” is required. Wake met that requirement on Monday for elementary students when fourth- and fifth-grade students resumed daily in-person instruction alongside younger students.
Middle schools and high schools can use Plan A or Plan B, whose requirement of 6 feet of social distancing makes it hard to offer full-time in-person classes. Previously, Plan B was the only in-person option that could be used for secondary schools.
Under guidelines adopted Monday by the State Board of Education, Plan A is defined as offering at least four days a week of in-person instruction.
Some school districts have already adopted plans to switch middle and high school students to Plan A.
Calls to move to Plan A
Even before the law was passed, Wake was facing complaints that the rotation of one week of in-person instruction and two weeks of online classes wasn’t enough for older students. These secondary school students have had very little in-person instruction since last March.
While middle school students have had some in-person classes since November, high school students didn’t resume face-to-face classes until February.
The board reopened Tuesday’s meeting to in-person speakers. Several parents urged the board to vote Tuesday on moving to Plan A now and not wait until next week.
“Our middle and high school students are suffering mentally, emotionally and socially,” said Susan Rhodes, a parent at Fuquay-Varina High School. “Sure teachers can disseminate information online, but this is not about content being taught.
“It’s about the natural desire in every human for genuine interaction and community.”
But while some parents have lobbied for Plan A, groups such as Wake NCAE have urged the district to go slow on expanding in-person instruction.
“We acknowledge that educators are concerned about moving to Plan A,” Moore said. “But there’s also energy among educators that students will benefit from more time in person.”
Schedule disruptions for students
The shift to Plan A would require middle schools and high schools to change the teacher assignments for some students. Ed McFarland, chief academic advancement officer, said more details will be known next week about how extensive the changes may be.
School board member Monika Johnson-Hostler said she’s worried about high school seniors changing teachers just as they’re about to graduate. She raised the idea of allowing individual high schools to stay on Plan B.
“Parents are also saying, ‘I’ve got a high school senior. You’re really going to change their AP Physics teacher right now?’” Johnson-Hostler said “That’s a real question for graduating seniors.”
Before the law was passed last week, Moore had suggested that schools have two of the three rotating groups on campus at the same time. That would be a way to increase in-person instruction while being on Plan B.
Board member Jim Martin said multiple high school principals have told him they prefer trying to increase in-person time in Plan B over going to Plan A.
“I heard a call for stability and minimizing class scheduling disruption,” Martin said.
Drew Cook, assistant superintendent for academics, said there will be scheduling adjustments due to going to Plan A. But he said there also would be scheduling adjustments if there is an effort to have two groups of students at school at the same time in Plan B.
The additional class time could bring more stability to students who haven’t fared as well during mostly remote instruction. Grades are down and absences are up this school year in Wake among secondary students.
Social events have also been curtailed. Wake announced Monday that it won’t hold traditional proms or graduations this spring for seniors. Modified proms and scaled-down graduation ceremonies will be held.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 3:00 PM.
