Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board sets new date for return to in-person learning

Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools will reopen for part-time, in-person learning March 22, but families uncomfortable with sending their children back just yet will have some flexibility, board members decided Thursday.

“It sounds like it’s time,” board member Deon Temne said before the unanimous vote to speed up the return to a Plan B hybrid mix of remote and in-person learning. The board voted last month to bring students back under a Plan B in late April.

The new date will include workdays March 17-19 so teachers can get their classrooms ready. Limited spectators will be able to attend home athletics events starting Monday.

Thursday’s decision followed a state fight over reopening schools and a State Board of Education resolution urging districts to plan for reopening by the end of March. It also followed months of CHCCS board discussion with district staff and medical experts about how to keep students and staff safe.

“I think the metrics have improved, that the environment will be sufficiently safe enough,” board member Joal Broun said. “I think also we all understand that if things should change, then we could pull back, so I’m very supportive of the motion that’s on the floor, but I’d like to thank everybody for their hard work.”

Letters about the return to in-person classes will go out to families in the next few days, Superintendent Nyah Hamlett said. Roughly half of the district’s students could remain in remote learning, staff said, and over 150 district employees also have been approved for telework because of a disability request.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro is one of roughly two dozen school districts in North Carolina that has not offered some in-person classes to all students. The district did bring a limited number of students, including in exceptional children’s classes, back in person in December.

Wake County students have been back in person for some time, returning to remote-only instruction around the holidays when the number of COVID-19 cases was rising. The Orange County Schools will bring one group of students in grades 2-12 back for Plan B in-person and online classes Monday. The rest will return March 15. Grades K-2 returned in January.

Durham Public Schools students in elementary school also will return March 15, with middle and high school students returning April 8.

Parent frustrations, student concerns

More parents have called for schools to reopen at least part time as COVID-19 cases decline and more people are vaccinated, including working parents struggling to care for their children and students who have seen their grades and test scores suffer.

Several parents and students spoke about the difficulties Thursday, the first night of the board’s 30-minute, live public comment period. The board has only received written public comments for months and will continue to do so, in addition to allowing some people to speak directly to the board.

Students who spoke said they are worried about classmates who don’t turn on their cameras, don’t actively participate in class and are isolated. They also worry about how remote learning is affecting their own mental and emotional health and their competitiveness in applying to college.

Parents chastised the board for delaying the reopening of schools, even after Anthony Fauci and other experts, including members of the ABC Science Collaborative, said students could safely return to the classroom by following public health guidelines.

The district, along with dozens of districts statewide, has worked with the collaborative’s science and medical experts to assess the right time to reopen.

Remote instruction is not working for her McDougle Elementary School first-grader, who spends most of his day working or reading on his own, parent Bergen Watterson said. He thrived in kindergarten, she said, and now is “miserable” and hates school.

“He has not progressed much academically since this time last year, he still can’t read and he has a difficult time engaging with his teacher and his classmates on screen,” she said.

The grassroots group Safely Open CHCCS has collected over 665 signatures on a petition supporting the return to in-person classes, said Sean Cavanaugh, the parent of three children.

It has been a “frustrating and difficult year” for his family, he said, and the lack of understanding about what the schools need to reopen has caused “a lot of frustration and divisiveness” in the community. Parent volunteers have reached out to his group asking how they can help, he said.

“None of these people are anti-teacher or want employees getting sick. We just believe in the science and that we can do this safely,” Cavanaugh said.

State pushes in-person instruction

The State Board of Education approved a resolution Thursday telling all school districts to offer at least some in-person instruction to students by the end of March. Remote learning would still be available for families who want it and higher-risk students.

Roughly 90 of the state’s 115 districts have returned to some form of in-person instruction. Returning students must wear masks, stay six feet apart and be screened for symptoms. Some schools also have required students and staff to be tested.

The state Department of Health and Human Services continues to recommend Plan A in-person instruction for K-5 students. Middle and high school students are only recommended to return to Plan A if there is enough room for physical distancing.

Many have returned to Plan B instruction, while the rest remain in Plan C remote-only classes a year after the shutdown began.

The state began offering COVID-19 vaccines to teachers and child care employees Feb. 24. The state also is offering free COVID-19 antigen tests to schools through the end of the school year. Over 400 CHCCS employees could be vaccinated by Friday, Hamlet said.

Senate Republicans looked for a way this week to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 37, which would have mandated some form of in-person learning for all schools and for students with an individualized education plan.

The House Education Committee will consider a “local bill” next week that requires five school districts to offer Plan A to all grade levels, House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday. A local bill does not have to be approved by the governor.