Coronavirus fears cause Wake County schools to cancel all field trips
The Wake County school system is immediately canceling all field trips in response to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declaring a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Cooper declared the state of emergency Tuesday after state health officials announced that the state has seven people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, including six cases in Wake County.
“First, it is important to note state officials have specifically recommended that schools NOT be closed,” Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “This recommendation reflects the current guidance that children are at low risk of serious illness.”
But to help mitigate the spread of the illness, the Wake County school system announced Tuesday:
▪ The district is canceling all field trips and employee-related travel effective immediately, including the First in Fitness Competition.
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▪ The district is evaluating all future school events that attract crowds. The district said families will receive updates regarding these events in the coming days. School officials did not identify future school events that could be impacted. But upcoming events include activities such as proms and dances.
▪ Based on state guidance, the district is seeing which Central Services employees can work from home for now.
▪ The district says it will continue to provide students frequent opportunities to wash their hands, including immediately before lunch.
Wake Superintendent given emergency authority
Also on Tuesday, the Wake County school board approved giving Moore authority “to take any lawful action and to temporarily waive Board policies as necessary in response to potential risks associated with the coronavirus.” Examples Moore gave include waiving policies about student attendance and making up missed schoolwork.
“I appreciate these are extraordinary measures by normal standards, but I am confident in the Health Department guidance that we are following is in our best interests,” Moore said. “I can not thank you enough for the grace and patience that will no doubt be required in the coming days as there are additional considerations and measures being reviewed.”
Wake is North Carolina’s largest school system with nearly 162,000 students, including some who had already paid to go on trips Wednesday.
Tuesday’s announcement comes as fears about the spread of coronavirus have intensified.
Initially, schools tried to reassure parents that they should treat coronavirus as they would the spread of the flu. That meant telling people to practice good hygiene by washing their hands and staying home if they are sick.
But as the number of infected people has risen, schools began to take stronger measures.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools canceled all district and school-sponsored international trips and is encouraging people to cancel privately sponsored overseas trips.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system also joined Wake County on Tuesday in suspending all district-sponsored trips for students and staff. Previously, the district had limited the ban to overseas trips and to California and Washington. CMS is second only to Wake in size in the state.
In its announcement, CMS said it’s awaiting guidance from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association about next steps. Charlotte-Mecklenburg also said it will be talking early Wednesday morning with the other large districts in North Carolina about the best way to handle athletic and other competitions.
Trip cancellations cost families money
The cancellations are affecting families who have paid for school-related travel and are unsure about whether they’ll get the money back. One such group is the chorus at Millbrook High School in Raleigh, which had planned to leave this week for the prestigious Music For All Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“While I know the cancellation of this trip will cause hurt and anger in the short term, I do hope everyone can continue to celebrate the accomplishments of this group,” Charles Patton, an assistant principal at Millbrook, said in an email to families on Tuesday. “Regardless of the location of any performance; the music that this group has toiled with, refined, and come to love represents a crowning achievement for this choral program.”
The Wake school system has also changed the guidance it has been giving families.
Last week, Wake told parents that “if someone is not showing signs of illness, they are not contagious and do not pose a risk to others.” A day later, the school system updated its website to say the risk of transmission was low but not zero from people who are not showing symptoms.
School officials say they’ve been communicating the latest information from county health officials.
Wake said Tuesday it is prepared to provide additional cleaning to schools, buses, and facilities if it is notified that someone in the school system tests positive or presumptive positive for COVID-19 or if health officials recommend it.
Talking to children about coronavirus
The district also offered tips for parents on how to talk about the virus with their children, including:
▪ Remind children that most people will not get COVID-19. School and health officials are being especially careful to make sure as few people as possible get sick.
▪ Try to keep routines as normal as possible.
▪ Limit the amount of exposure to television and social media regarding COVID-19 or coronavirus.
▪ It is important that all students and staff treat everyone with respect and not jump to conclusions about who may or may not have coronavirus.
“If your child seems distressed about COVID-19 (Coronavirus), please reach out to your school counselor, psychologist, or social worker for support,” Wake said in its update.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Coronavirus fears cause Wake County schools to cancel all field trips."
