Orange County students returning to in-person classes in March, a month ahead of schedule

The Orange County school board moved up the date Friday for students in grades 2-12 to return to Plan B in-person and online classes — about a month earlier than planned.

The unanimous decision to bring back students in two groups — on March 8 and March 15 — follows the approval of state House and Senate bills this week to require virtual-only school districts to open. The House and Senate are negotiating a joint bill that could be voted on Monday before being sent to Gov. Roy Cooper.

On Feb. 2, Cooper urged the state’s schools to safely reopen to students for in-person instruction but has left the decision of what that looks like to local school districts.

The board also voted 6-1 to give Superintendent Monique Felder and district principals flexibility to plan safely for lunch, whether that’s inside or outside.

The Orange County school board had voted in January to bring grades 2-12 back on April 6. Between 40% and 60% of the district’s students are expected to return to in-person classes.

Kindergartners and first-graders returned to a Plan B hybrid schedule on Jan. 25, and other students, including in pre-K and exceptional children’s classes, returned in late October. Most of the district’s 7,500 students have been in virtual-only classes for nearly a year.

Plan B splits students into two groups based on their last names and puts them on alternating schedules. One group meets in person Monday through Thursday and online on Friday for the first week, while the other group meets online all week.

Families also have a choice of keeping their students in virtual-only classes.

Positive COVID-19 cases, tests down

The board made its decision after hearing from the district’s high school principals and Felder, who warned that waiting for the state to require a return to school won’t give the district time to use a staggered schedule.

Regardless of what’s happening at the state level, board member Sarah Smylie said, “The district has developed a good plan for bringing back students in a slow, staggered way.”

Things are different now than they were in January, she said, in terms of the spread of the coronavirus in the county as well as a post-holiday surge of cases and hospitalizations.

“At that point, community transition was skyrocketing, and positivity rates were four times what they are right now,” Smylie said. “We have a lot more information and the community situation looks a lot better. I think we’re in a different place right now.”

State data showed that COVID-19 numbers in Orange County have fallen from 492 COVID-19 cases for every 100,000 residents last week to 465 cases for every 100,000 residents on Friday. The number of positive COVID tests also had declined, to 1.5% on Friday.

Experts with the ABC Science Collaborative — a group of science and medical experts working with school districts across the state — have emphasized there is a low risk of contracting the virus in schools that emphasize wearing a mask, washing hands and staying six feet apart.

The district has worked closely with health and medical professionals and has not seen any transmission of the virus in its in-person learning labs or in exceptional children’s or pre-K classrooms, Felder told the board in January.

Outdoor lunch concerns

While most of the conversation Friday focused on keeping teachers and students safe from COVID-19, the high school principals also raised concerns about the logistics and safety of holding lunch outside with a few hundred students.

The board has drawn some criticism from parents for its decision to have students eat lunch outside, especially when the weather is cold.

At the high school level, Partnership Academy Principal Stan Farrington said the challenge is also how to handle 200 to 300 students who eat lunch at the same time. Elementary and middle schools have smaller, staggered lunch groups, he said.

There’s also nowhere for that many students to sit outside, except on the ground, and supervision will be a challenge, Cedar Ridge High School Principal Carlos Ramirez said. He noted that the schools also may have to update their active shooter protocols.

“We hate to mention such horrors, but these are things that we have to look at,” Farrington said.

“Right now, as it stands, we’re asking these families and asking our students to go outside in fairly cold weather,” he said, “and then we’re asking them to refrain from conversation, refrain from any type of interaction, to remain standing or sit on the ground, and keep an eye out for anyone who might possibly have a weapon. And then eat in under 15 minutes. That’s a big ask.”

Durham, Wake, Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools students remain on a Plan C remote-only learning schedule. Students in grades preK-2, six and nine and exceptional children’s classes are expected to return to Plan B on April 19, followed by all other students on April 26.

The district brought athletes back to campus in October, and some students, including in exceptional children’s classes, back in December. The district reported 45 infections or close-contact notifications involving students and staff as of Dec. 17.

Durham Public Schools students are scheduled to stay online through the end of the school year, although that could change depending on the state bill.

Wake County, which returned its students to a hybrid schedule in October, only held virtual-only classes after the holidays because of rising COVID cases. Some students will start returning to in-person classes on Monday.