CMS may modify reopening plan, affecting elementary students. Here’s what to know.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders may bring elementary students back for in-person learning more frequently than outlined in the district’s reopening plan approved two weeks ago, a CMS official with knowledge of the proposal told the Observer late Wednesday.

The school board called an emergency session to be held Thursday at 6 p.m. to consider the proposal from district staff. The change would increase slightly the number of days elementary students attend CMS but stops short of a full return to classrooms, the official said.

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting says the board will consider “modifications to the In-Person and Remote Learning Plan for the 2020-2021 school year” but no details were publicly announced. The school district official spoke with the Observer Wednesday night on the condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to share details of the district’s plan.

Under the proposed change, elementary students would be divided into two cohorts instead of the original three voted on by the board earlier this month. Students in the first group would participate in in-person learning on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the second cohort would be in the classroom on Thursdays and Fridays. All elementary students would be in remote learning on Wednesdays.

If the new plan is approved by the board, elementary students would spend one extra day in classrooms every three weeks compared to the plan already in place.

The proposal would not accelerate the timeline for bringing students back into the classroom, the official said, and would not affect middle and high school grades. Pre-K students are still slated to start in-person learning on Oct. 12, and elementary school is expected to resume in the classroom on Nov. 2.

The proposed plan for CMS would not be a shift to Plan A, but does bring students back for in-person learning more frequently than under the district’s Plan B.

Under a Sept. 17 executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper, public school districts were given the option to re-open elementary schools under Plan A, which would allow schools to reopen without capacity restrictions as long as they maintained social distancing and safety protocols for COVID-19.

Earlier, the CMS board voted to approve a phased return to in-person instruction.

Three board members—Rhonda Cheek, Sean Strain and Margaret Marshall—voted against that plan and criticized it for not moving fast enough to bring students back to in-person instruction.

Others, particularly school-based employees, have cautioned against a rushed return to buildings, raising concerns about the safety of students, employees and their families.

In designing a plan to return to the classroom, the district has prioritized the youngest students and those with special needs. Certain students with special needs that cannot be met over remote learning returned to in-person instruction on Sept. 28.

This is a developing story.