The Chatham County Board of Education is set to consider the district’s drafted plan for continued remote learning at its July 16 meeting.
The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Central Services Board Room.
The draft, available online on the Chatham County Schools website at www.chatham.k12.nc.us, spans 44 pages and details information regarding community survey and consultation sessions, technology training and support, student and staff expectations by grade level range and more.
The drafted plan for remote instruction is due July 20 to the North Carolina State Board of Education under Senate Bill 705 and SBE SPLN-006. The plan must be developed in consultation with teachers, administrators and instructional support staff, parents, students, community partners and other stakeholders and approved in open session by the board of education.
“The purpose of the plan is to ensure quality teaching and learning outside the traditional classroom,” the draft reads. “The legislation requires that the plans address 15 issues, ranging from parent involvement and effective instruction to equitable access and provisions for monitoring student attendance.”
Citing June survey results from Chatham teachers, parents and students, the document said more than 94% of teachers feel “prepared or very prepared to manage the at-home learning process” during the 2020-21 school year and 65% of students and parents who responded feel prepared or very prepared to participate in at-home learning.
The document also examines policies regarding internet connectivity and technology support, engagement with community partners, standards for learning, equal access for students with disabilities and tracking attendance.
Community members can provide feedback on the draft by submitting it to the link available on CCS’s website. The school system encouraged community participation in their listening sessions for teachers and the public on June 22 and 23.
“We have a seat waiting for you this evening at a virtual meeting about our remote learning plan,” Chatham County Schools said regarding the session in a June 22 Twitter post.
In addition to the online feedback mechanism, surveys for feedback are also open. At the time of publication, surveys for students in 6th-12th grade, parents and teachers could still be submitted. The link to the surveys is available in the draft document.
Last week, CCS Superintendent Derrick Jordan spoke with the News + Record regarding reopening plans. Though he said making final decisions will not be possible until Gov. Roy Cooper announces North Carolina’s statewide reopening strategy, he said the school system is considering survey results and feedback as they plan for a variety of possible plans.
“At this point, what I feel comfortable with saying is that we are soliciting input from our stakeholders by virtue of surveys and we’ve just completed some focus groups where we are desiring to get insights into one people’s comfort level with returning to school,” he said. “We want to identify the opportunities for improvement. We want to improve those and certainly, for those who have done good work and have been celebrated, we want to continue pushing and replicating their work and growing them to propel them to higher heights. But it’s a team effort and always a work in progress.”
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com.