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Photo by Pixabay from PexelsNorth Carolina elementary schools will soon be allowed to return to daily, in-person classes, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Thursday.
The decision on whether to return to full in-person instruction will be left up to individual districts. Those choosing to go forward with the Plan A reopening option starting on Oct. 5 won’t be limited in the number of students who can be inside a classroom. They would, however, be required to screen kids for coronavirus symptoms, make sure they wear face coverings and offer remote options for parents concerned about their kids bringing the virus back home.
Some Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district leaders feel like it’s time to put children back in the classroom, and it seems a majority of parents agree. On Wednesday night, the CMS board approved a plan for students to go back to in-person instruction. CMS voted to phase students into Plan B, which includes remote and in-person learning. The vote passed 6-3. When CMS transitions to Plan B, not all grades will return to the classroom at the same time. In fact, high schoolers could still be months away from getting back to some form of in-person learning.
Under Plan B, there will be four phases of reopening. The first kids to return to the classroom will be members of Bright Beginnings and Pre-K. The next phase will be Montessori Pre-K and grades K-5.
Phase 3 will include grades 6-8, and the last phase will be high schoolers.
At least three weeks will pass between phases, which means high schoolers won’t be back in class for a while.
All teachers will have to report two weeks prior to students returning.
Proposed phases to reopen CMS:
- Pre-K students will return Oct. 12
- K-5 students will return Nov. 2
- Grades 6 through 8 will return Nov. 23
- Grades 9 through 12 would return Dec. 14 for high school EOC testing
- High school students would return for in-person Jan. 5
