BREAKING: CMS changes plan for K-5 reopening
Elementary students will attend school two days each week instead of one-week-in, two-weeks-out rotations
Good evening! Today is Thursday, October 1, 2020, and we’re coming to you with HOT BREAKING NEWS.
Elementary students will return for two days of in-person learning each week under new plan passed by CMS board
by Cristina Bolling and Tony Mecia
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools students in grades K-5 will head back into buildings for two days each week starting Nov. 2, after the CMS school board voted Thursday to change the plan for reopening schools.
The board had voted on a plan two weeks ago that called for all CMS students to be divided into three rotating groups, with students spending one week at school followed by two weeks of virtual instruction.
On Thursday, the board voted 9-0 to divide elementary students into two groups instead of three; students in the first group will participate in in-person learning on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the second group will be in the classroom on Thursdays and Fridays. All elementary students will be in remote learning on Wednesdays.
It wasn’t clear exactly what brought about Thursday’s change. CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston cited Gov. Roy Cooper’s announcement last month that public school districts can reopen full-time to grades K-5, but that wasn’t a requirement for districts. The county’s Covid metrics haven’t changed much since the last plan was made Sept. 16, so it’s not as though health risks associated with bringing students back to school are lessened.
“We said we would be both flexible and adaptive, and tonight we will demonstrate those qualities,” Winston said at the start of Thursday’s meeting. Winston said Cooper’s announcement that elementary schools could open for daily instruction “removes some of the barriers to returning some of the students in kindergarten through fifth grade,” but he didn’t specify what barriers he meant.
The board did not change the plan for middle and high school students. They will spend one week at school followed by two weeks of virtual learning.
The dates for a return to classrooms didn’t change Thursday:
K-5 students will return the week of Nov. 2.
Grades 6-8 will return the weeks of Nov. 23 to Dec. 2.
High school students will return the week of Dec. 14 for testing, then return for instruction the weeks of Jan. 5 to Jan. 18.
Risk-benefit analysis: There was a lot of discussion during Thursday’s meeting about the risks and benefits of delaying a full-time return to school and limiting time in buildings to prevent the spread of Covid.
CMS staff members said they believed the county’s health metrics, which are solidly in the “yellow” or cautionary category set by the district’s Metrics Advisory Committee, don’t warrant a full-time return to buildings. But they said they felt it was safe to phase elementary students in part-time so they can have more “touchpoints” to interact with teachers and counselors and make sure their technology is working.
Board member Thelma Byers-Bailey said she wrestles with reconciling the pleas of parents and Covid safety.
“I can’t say I’m excited about this plan, because ultimately we want our children in schools,” she said. “I get all the same emails the rest of us have been getting regarding, ‘I need my child back in school. They’re not thriving, they’re depressed. They just don’t want to even go to the computer anymore.’ It touches my heart. And I know the children, they need to be there, but we also need the children to be safe.”
Board member Sean Strain questioned how the district is analyzing the risks and benefits associated with keeping kids from going back for daily instruction.
“We don’t talk at all about the risk and damage being done when kids are not in school,” Strain said, “which we’ve been told time and time and time again by public health officials at every level, by our medical partners here in the region, that that is more substantial incrementally than the risk of having kids in the classrooms during Covid.”
Covid cases dropping: Covid numbers have generally been declining in Mecklenburg County since July, though they are not as low as many school board members would like in order to reopen schools faster.
In the last week, 5.7% of Covid tests in the county were positive, and there were an average of 101 new cases a day, according to data released this week. To move more quickly to reopen schools, the school board’s targets call for test positivity below 5% and about 15 new cases a day — which would be difficult to achieve without the virus virtually disappearing.
However, the board is free to open or close schools at whatever pace it likes, and many board members said they remain open to changing course again as new information comes in.
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer free and paid subscription plans:
The Charlotte Ledger is an e-newsletter and website publishing timely, informative, and interesting local business news and analysis Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, except holidays and as noted. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
Got a news tip? Think we missed something? Drop us a line at editor@cltledger.com and let us know.
Like what we are doing? Feel free to forward this along and to tell a friend.
Searchable archives available at https://charlotteledger.substack.com/archive.
On Twitter: @cltledger
Sponsorship information: email editor@cltledger.com.
Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire; Reporting intern: David Griffith