CMS to go remote until January for most students, citing worsening COVID-19 spread

Just over two months into returning to face-to-face instruction, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is walking back its in-person learning plan and sending most students back to remote learning amid rising coronavirus cases in the county.

The board voted 6-3 on Tuesday to move the district back to plan C, or full remote learning, beginning Dec. 14 with a return date of Jan. 19.

The decision comes as the county’s measures of coronavirus spread have steadily worsened over the past weeks. As of Monday, the latest update to the district’s metrics dashboard, the county reported a test positivity rate of 10.9%, well above the state’s goal of 5%. The number of new cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period was 220, which also exceeded the district’s cutoff of 100 to indicate substantial community spread.

Under the plan approved Tuesday, students in pre-kindergarten will continue with in-person learning, in addition to students with special needs whose individualized education plans call for those accommodations.

The move will affect the more than 140,000 enrolled in the district. Currently, roughly 40,000 pre-k and elementary students, in addition to middle school students in K-8 schools and students with special needs are getting some form of in-person learning. Most middle school and high school students were scheduled to return on Jan. 5.

Students who must take federally mandated in-person tests will also have the option to take an incomplete on the test during the December testing period and make up the test later in the semester, before June 1.

Board member Carol Sawyer said the necessary sacrifices to keep schools open safely had not been made, making it necessary to shift to remote learning.

“While the statement is true that schools should be the last thing to close, that’s assuming you close everything else,” Sawyer said. “And we have not in this society prioritized education in that way.”

Earlier Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced a new, modified stay-at-home order, citing worsening spread of the coronavirus across the state. The executive order, which goes into effect Friday at 5 p.m., imposes a new statewide curfew through Jan. 8 for many businesses and restaurants.

While the order doesn’t introduce new restrictions for school districts, it comes in response to accelerated spread, both in rural and urban communities, over the last few weeks.

Board member Rhonda Cheek, who voted against the motion, said that she believed elementary aged students needed to have in-person learning five days a week. She said if pre-K students are more at risk for learning loss than they are for spreading the virus, that should also apply to elementary students.

“That in no way means I want teachers to be in danger,” she said. “What it says is that I’m following the letter of the law, making the decision to go remote based on the health and safety of our students, and the data is not there for K-5.”

Meg Sullivan, the Mecklenburg County public health department’s medical director, said as community spread worsens in the county, the number of school-affiliated individuals who test positive would reflect those trends.

“We absolutely expect that number to go up,” Sullivan said. “Those prevention measures become more important, but the level of risk goes up as well.”

Families seek reopening of schools

Roughly 100 parents and children gathered before the meeting in Midtown Park to demand further reopening of schools and to protest the possible decision to shift to remote instruction. The mostly white crowd chanted “Remote is a joke” and held signs saying “All I want for Christmas is to be in my classroom.”

Erin Phillips, who helped organize the protest, said the event came together overnight and that families should have a choice in whether to send their children to in-person learning.

“We’re really proud of ourselves that we were able to bring this group together, of proud families, desperate families, trying to make a change,” she said.

A separate rally organized by CMS teachers was changed from an in-person gathering outside the Government Center to a virtual platform. Organizers cited coronavirus concerns and restrictions on gathering for making the change.

“When educators are saying please listen to us, we really do know what’s happening in schools and we really do have our community’s best interests at heart,” said Rae LeGrone, a CMS teacher, during the virtual rally. “What we do now defines who we are as a community.”

Board member Jennifer De La Jara said that it’s important to understand which parts of the community are demanding in-person learning. She said some parents, who are not Black and Latino, had reached out to her advocating on behalf of students of color to reopen schools, citing disparities and inequity.

“Let’s not forget in our community which parents are pushing for more in-person learning and which parents are not,” she said. “We have a disproportionate number of African-American students opting for remote. Let people speak for themselves. I have had very few Latino families reaching out to me pushing for in-person learning. I think it’s really important we understand that and stop using that as a reason.”

Even though outbreaks haven’t been reported in school settings, CMS has faced a different challenge in keeping schools operational during the pandemic. With growing numbers of employees taking leave or quarantining due to possible exposure of someone with COVID-19, the resulting staff shortages have made it difficult to reopen schools as planned.

The district already delayed the date of for most middle school students to return to in-person learning from Nov. 23 to Jan. 5. School officials cited a shortage of bus drivers that made it impossible to maintain social distancing on routes without creating massive backlogs and delays in the transportation system.

In November, Superintendent Earnest Winston had to close two schools that serve students with special needs for two days prior to Thanksgiving break after a number of teachers were out due to quarantines. The board gave him the power to shift individual schools to remote learning as a way of avoiding a full stop of instruction when operating a school building becomes unsafe due to shortages.

Remote learning challenges

Dozens of parents and teachers spoke during the public comment section of Tuesday’s board meeting. Some implored the board to reopen schools for full in-person learning for all students.

Under state rules, elementary schools are allowed to follow Plan A, for daily in-person learning for all students, if local school boards agree to it. Middle and high schools can operate under Plan B, which allows a mix of socially distanced in-person learning and online classes, or Plan C, which is all remote.

But Tuesday, many said remote learning isn’t working and that they believed schools would be safe for their children.

“We cannot let our children’s education become another victim of COVID-19,” said parent Melisa Klink. “CMS safety protocols are working for us.”

But other parents and teachers said the board has to consider the well-being of the community and the district’s employees in addition to students. They said while they believe in-person learning is essential, the rising number of cases warrants action and caution from the board.

“I see the toll remote learning has taken on (my son’s) grades,” parent Gina Navarrete said. “However, I cannot just think about my son. Unlike first-responders, our teachers and bus drivers did not sign up to put their lives on the line. The fact is we cannot afford to put more lives at risk.”

This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 10:36 PM.