Gov. Roy Cooper “strongly urged” North Carolina public school districts to offer in-person instruction at a press conference on Tuesday, as the legislature and state superintendent discussed the need to return to the classroom.
Earlier in the day, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Catherine Truitt said she and Cooper would “sing from the same songbook” and push local school districts to reopen schools, the News & Observer reported.
“Learning has continued. Educators, parents and students have persevered,” Gov. Cooper said at the conference. “We have learned much more about this virus, and now it is time to get our children back in the classroom.”
Just the day before, Republicans filed a bill in the N.C. Senate to require K-12 public schools in the state to give students the option of in-person learning. The Senate Education Committee heard the Senate Bill Tuesday at 1 p.m.; it was given a favorable report and moved to the Rule Committee for a vote at the time of Cooper’s conference.
The bill is on Wednesday’s Rules Committee agenda, where, if passed, it would go to a floor vote before the House. If it passes, it would go into effect the first weekday 15 days after the bill passed.
The legislation requires school districts to provide a daily in-person instruction option to EC (special needs) students, the News & Observer reported Monday night, and would also mandate other students be offered daily in-person classes or a hybrid plan. In other words, districts currently in fully remote plans — such as Durham County Schools or Wake County Schools — would have to, at least, offer hybrid instruction, though districts would still continue providing a remote learning option for families opting out of in-person learning.
When asked whether he would support the bill, Cooper expressed having concerns with the legislation, particularly with the “stripping out” of certain health protocols. He said he would not mandate school boards to provide in-person instruction, but rather encourage them to take this action because “it’s the right thing to do.” He said at least 90 of the state’s 115 school districts are currently providing in-person instruction for some or all of their students.
“I’m joined by state education leaders to strongly urge that all schools provide in-person learning for students,” Cooper said. “It’s important schools follow the safety protocols laid out by the N.C. Department of Public Health. That guidance reinforces in-person learning while maintaining strong public health measures.”
Tuesday’s conference follows debates — often, but not always, existing along partisan lines — surrounding the safety of returning to school buildings. Providing in-person instruction is often framed as reopening schools, but many educators have pointed out that schools are still open and providing instruction, even if they’re doing so remotely. Many teachers and education advocates have urged teacher vaccinations to take place before returning to in-person learning. Cooper said teachers are up next along with other essential workers for COVID-19 vaccinations, but will not be accelerated on the list. County and state officials have previously said teachers should get vaccinated in the next weeks to months.
In Chatham, all the district’s students were offered the option of hybrid in-person learning since Monday, when high schools began Plan B. On Oct. 19, Pre-K, K-2 and Extended Content Standard EC students had the option to return to hybrid learning. Students in 3rd through 5th grade were able to return Nov. 19; 6th through 8th graders could on Dec. 7.
Chatham teachers and community members have expressed concern with data from the ABC Science Collaborative — also cited at the governor’s Tuesday conference — saying that it doesn’t provide much data specific to the safety of high school in-person instruction, learning under Plan A or how higher rates of community spread impact secondary transmission in schools. As the legislature discussed the filed bill, the ABC’s Danny Benjamin said the group has much less data for high schools and that he was less confident in Plan A, particularly for grades 6-12 where data reflects much lower community spread.
As of Tuesday, there were 51 clusters associated with K-12 schools in the state, or 1,160 cases. In Chatham, there have been 68 total student cases reported, 69 total employee cases reported and one cluster.
Currently, the state only allows Plan A (fully in-person for all students) for elementary schools, while individual districts can opt for Plan B or fully remote Plan C. It appears the option for fully remote instruction is still possible, though discouraged by the governor. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said N.C. school districts aren’t able to use Plan A for grades 6-12 due to the higher COVID-19 transmission rates among older children compared to younger ones. Still, she said Plan B could allow school districts to offer daily in-person learning while providing the required 6 feet of social distancing between students.
A joint letter was signed today by Cooper, Cohen, Truitt and State Board of Education Chairman Eric Davis and sent to school districts encouraging them to offer in-person instruction.
“Thank you to Gov. Cooper and Secretary Cohen, for your clear statement today on the need to send children back to school,” Truitt said at the conference, adding that remote learning had created or exacerbated challenges for the state’s “most vulnerable students.”
“I understand that for many schools, the logistics of returning to in-person instruction five days per week may be a challenge, but this is absolutely a challenge we must face head on,” she said. “We hope that today’s DHHS guidance empowers local school districts to require students and teachers to return to their classrooms while also offering a choice of remote instruction for those teachers and students who are at high risk from COVID-19. Our students cannot lose any more time.”
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com.