CMS board votes to increase in-person learning days
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The decision came in 9-0 vote during the board’s regular Tuesday night meeting.
The new schedule will start on March 15 for middle and high schoolers, and on March 22 for elementary schoolers.
- All elementary students and students at K-8 schools will learn in-person together Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
- Middle and high school students will be split into two groups that either attend in-person classes on Monday and Tuesday or on Thursday and Friday.
- All K-12 students still will learn remotely on Wednesdays.
Big picture: The move to increase the number of in-person learning days comes as COVID trends decrease in Mecklenburg County, and as teachers and school staff are eligible for the vaccine.
- “I think that when you look at the virus numbers coming down in our community, when you look at the vaccine availability, this is the right time,” board chair Elyse Dashew said Tuesday night. “It’s not too early, it’s not too late, and this is what’s best for the students that we serve.”
Pre-K and students with disabilities whose IEPs require in-person learning will continue in-person instruction five days a week.
Details: The vote will not affect students in full remote academy, who will continue remote learning through the end of the school year unless their families provide specific proof of hardship showing they need to switch.
Next school year, officials expect normal five-day school weeks to resume.
- “Unless conditions change fundamentally from what we expect to see next fall, our buildings will be open for in-person learning five days a week for all programs and grade levels,” superintendent Earnest Winston said at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting.