Wake students will start school with virtual learning. Here’s the COVID-19 plan.
Updated Aug. 7
North Carolina’s largest school system will start the new school year offering only online courses instead of in-person classes for students.
The Wake County school board approved a revised school reopening plan on Tuesday that has students use remote instruction for an unspecified period of time. Superintendent Cathy Moore said delaying face-to-face classes will give more time for COVID-19 trends to improve, for schools to get more personal protective equipment and for staff to be ready to carry out new state-mandated health procedures.
“It is our goal to get students back in school as soon as we can,” said school board chairman Keith Sutton. “But we will do that when it is safe, when it is practical and healthy to do so.”
The vote comes as the first day of classes will be Aug. 17 for traditional and year-round students. The board moved the first day for modified-calendar schools back by 10 days to Aug. 13.
The WakeEd Partnership, a business-backed group that supports public schools, endorsed the reopening decision as making sense given the current spread of COVID-19 in the community.
“Students need to return to learning, and this plan is the best option under the circumstances,” Keith Poston, president of the WakeEd Partnership, said in a statement. “We are encouraged that continued improvement in community adoption of wearing masks, waiting six feet apart, and washing their hands will slow the transmission of COVID-19 so our kids can go back to school and meet their teachers in person.”
Wake joins other districts opening online only
Wake is among the majority of North Carolina school districts who have decided it’s not safe yet for students to return for face-to-face classes. This group includes districts such as Chatham County, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Durham and Orange County.
Those districts have have set timetables such as four to nine weeks of remote instruction before starting face-to-face classes.
“We are not putting a clock on the online,” Moore said. “We know that some other districts have. We don’t want to rush into this. Nevertheless, we want to acknowledge that we know that it’s important for both staff and students to get back in the building.”
But Moore said that she didn’t think the online-only classes would last the entire fall semester. On Aug. 4, district leaders said they hope to begin bringing back students by late October.early November.
On Aug. 7, the district announced it was delaying its plan to get special-education students in regional programs and Pre-K students back for in-person instruction on Sept. 8. No new date was announced.
Moore said that a return date for other students, who’d likely use a rotating schedule of in-person and remote classes, will occur “as soon as practical.”
Schools develop reopening plans
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 last week 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 that 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 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.
Earlier this month, the Wake school board had voted to use Plan B. That plan involves splitting students into groups that will rotate on a schedule of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote learning.
Moore on Tuesday recommended what she called a “Plan B transition.” She said the first two weeks of school for all students will be an orientation period. She said they may ask students to come to school to meet teachers during that period.
Interest soars for virtual school in Wake County
Cooper is also requiring school districts to offer remote learning options for students who don’t feel comfortable about returning for in-person classes.
Nearly half of Wake County’s 161,907 students (49%) signed up for the new Virtual Academy program. Those 78,792 students in the Virtual Academy won’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.
The registration period for the Virtual Academy will reopen at 12:01 a.m. July 27 and close at 5 p.m. July 29. Parents who’ve already registered can change their applications at that time period.
School officials say the high number of Virtual Academy applicants may allow the district to revise the rotation plan.
Childcare concerns for Wake
Wake had been working on a plan to provide childcare back when they were looking at splitting students into a rotating schedule. The need for childcare increases with all students learning from home every day.
Tim Simmons, a district spokesman, said the district plans to provide free childcare for school employees who have children in kindergarten through sixth-grade. He said that’s needed to ensure that those employees can go to work.
He said Wake is also working with community groups to provide “below-market prices” for childcare for lower-income families.
Wake provided computers for students to use from home last semester. The district plans to begin surveying families on Wednesday to see who still needs them when school starts.
The remote learning that was offered in the spring drew complaints from parents that students didn’t get enough work. School officials say the online courses will be more rigorous this fall.
But school board member Jim Martin complained that teachers still have too many unanswered questions about how schools will work under the reopening plan. He said he was reluctantly voting yes.
“I do feel like this very substantive part of the plan has not yet been presented,” Martin said. “I understand what needs to be done, But at the same time I do believe these are pieces that are necessary for us to know and have confidence in going forward.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Wake students will start school with virtual learning. Here’s the COVID-19 plan.."
