COVID-19 outbreak at Lake Norman campus prompts charter school to go remote learning
Officials at a Charlotte-area charter school blame out-of-town Thanksgiving family gatherings for a spike in COVID-19 cases at the school’s Lake Norman campus.
“Unfortunately, I believe Thanksgiving break traveling to see family members is a key factor in what we’re experiencing,” Jonathan Bryant, chief administrator at Lincoln Charter School told his school board at a Dec. 11 emergency meeting, according to a recording of the meeting on the school website.
Lincoln Charter is a public K-12 school that draws students from 13 counties, according to its website.
After Bryant reported what he called first-time COVID-19 spread in Lincoln Charter’s buildings, he recommended the board approve remote-only learning at its Lincolnton and Denver campuses until Jan. 19. The board didn‘t accept Bryant’s proposal, instead modifying it to return to in-person learning at both campuses on Jan. 11.
On Dec. 11 alone, Bryant said, 20 teachers and teacher assistants at the Denver campus stayed home due to COVID-19 positive tests either in their children or themselves.
“I’m very concerned about the safety of our Denver campus,” Bryant said on the recording.
School officials said COVID-19 spread also was occurring among younger grades at the K-12 school. A total of about 2,220 students are enrolled at the school’s campuses, according to its website.
Of 21 active COVID-19 cases at the Denver campus as of Dec. 11, 18 were from its elementary school, according to Bryant.
The entire fifth grade on the Denver campus previously was quarantined due to COVID-19, as was a kindergarten class, he said.
The school’s COVID-19 Dashboard is updated once a week, at 3 p.m. Fridays, except during holiday weeks. It didn’t appear to have been updated late Friday afternoon.
Lincoln County COVID-19 spike
Both campuses are in Lincoln County, whose COVID-19 chart shows a spike in cases and positive COVID-19 test results since Thanksgiving.
“Lincoln County continues to see an unprecedented number of resulted positives across our area,” county officials said on the county’s COVID-19 online information page. “Similarly, this is being seen across the state.”
About 13% of COVID-19 tests in the county were positive over two weeks in late November and early December, officials said, a 35% increase in percent positives from the county’s previous update. That’s well above the 5% target set by health officials.
“Due to the apparent rise in community spread, it is important for everyone to recognize personal responsibility to help control transmission and be cautious,” county officials said on the county COVID-19 page.
Bryant told the board the school has had COVID-19 cases throughout the pandemic, but nothing like the post-Thanksgiving Day holiday spike.
“It is a real and legitimate concern for us,” he said on the recording.
COVID clusters at 2 Mecklenburg schools
In neighboring Mecklenburg County on Friday, the health department reported COVID-19 clusters at Davidson Day School and Francis Bradley Middle School in Huntersville.
“This is the first identified cluster in a CMS facility,” district spokeswoman Yaviri Escalera said in a statement Friday afternoon about Bradley Middle School, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“All impacted students and staff were notified last week of confirmed cases and/or the need to quarantine due to close contact with infected persons. No impacted students or staff have been in the building since notification was made.”
Many NC school systems during the pandemic have offered the choice of in-class and remote learning.
In late November, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board members granted Superintendent Earnest Winston the authority to move individual schools to remote-only instruction during the coronavirus pandemic, the Observer previously reported.
On Dec. 8, about two months after resuming face-to-face instruction, the CMS board voted 6-3 to move the district back to Plan C, or full remote learning, beginning Dec. 14 with a return date of Jan. 19.
Individual CMS schools can be closed in three cases: a closure ordered by the county health department, a decision to close for COVID-19 related health and safety concerns, or when staffing shortages make it impossible to operate.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 6:00 AM.