CMS expects Christmas COVID ‘spike.’ All students will begin 2021 remote only.

For at least the first two weeks of the school year in 2021, all Charlotte-Mecklenburg students will again be in virtual classrooms — the latest decision by board members amid worsening coronavirus spread in the county.

On Tuesday, the CMS board voted 8-1 to implement remote-only learning for students with disabilities and pre-K students.

The decision came after recent spikes in COVID-19 cases and, according to those in favor of the change, indications of spread in school buildings. Earlier, the board voted to suspend in-person instruction for grades K-12 from Dec. 14 to Jan. 19. The board originally exempted pre-K and some students with disabilities from that decision, citing the importance of in-person learning to the youngest and most vulnerable students.

But recent public health considerations, especially anticipated spikes over the holidays as people continue to gather and travel, prompted the board to scale back those exemptions. In an email to Superintendent Earnest Winston, Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris said she supported the decision to suspend in-person instruction even for students who have the greatest need.

“We understand the educational and social impact this delay will have on all the children in Mecklenburg County and believe that keeping schools open for in-person learning should be a top priority for our community,” Harris said in the email sent Dec. 22.

“However, given the specific circumstances of the current data trends and the holiday season, from the public health perspective we support this decision to the delay for in-school learning until January 19, 2020.”

Unless the board votes to postpone the Jan. 19 date, it will be the first time most middle and high school students are in in-person instruction this academic year.

Throughout the first semester, CMS leaders repeatedly emphasized that schools were not shown to be a site of transmission of the coronavirus. But a recent cluster reported at Francis Bradley Middle School in Huntersville led some board members to reconsider that assessment. Four employees and two students tested positive for COVID-19, the first cluster in a CMS school reported by the health department.

Thelma Byers-Bailey said board members had been closely watching the number of clusters as an indicator of whether the virus was spreading in the classroom.

“That was the identifier that we could use to determine there was no transmission in our schools,” she said. “Now we do have a cluster. It’s time to put a pause.”

In Mecklenburg over the past week, an average of 680 new cases were reported per day, the health department said Tuesday. The caseload, along with hospitalizations, has increased significantly in recent weeks.

Winston told the board many in the district, along with public health officials, expect holiday get-togethers may fuel an even more infections in the community.

“Our conversations with local public health experts give us no reason to believe COVID cases will decrease significantly between now and Jan. 19,” he said. “Prior to Thanksgiving there was encouragement for avoidance of family gatherings, but we saw a sharp rise in cases and a similar spike may be expected in the weeks.”

Chief school performance officer Kathy Elling said that 63 classrooms that served students with special needs and 40 pre-K classrooms had been impacted by a positive case and the subsequent quarantine requirement. She said the close proximity required of students and teachers in those settings meant more people were impacted each time a positive case was reported.

Sean Strain, who cast the sole vote opposing the motion, said he did not believe the data showed schools were sites of widespread transmission. He added that the board had failed to consider the negative impacts of providing only remote instruction, and that the district had an obligation to provide in-person learning to students with disabilities.

“We have the discretion to define safe,” he said. “And it appears as if we’re defining safe without understanding the risk and ...negative impact of denying them in-person learning. We haven’t talked about that at all in here. The health and safety of our students in schools amounts to negligible risk.”

Lenora Shipp, a former CMS principal and current board member, said that definitions of safety had to include the district’s ability to operate. As teachers, bus drivers and other staff fall ill or are required to quarantine, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain strict standards in the classroom that minimize risk for students attending.

“Safety is connected to what’s going on in our buildings,” she said. “I don’t think we can separate that out.”

Reported COVID cases in CMS

In the past 14 days, 120 schools reported at least one positive COVID-19 case, and two schools had 10 or more cases reported in the same time period.

CMS has struggled with operational challenges during the pandemic. A shortage of bus drivers led the district to delay the start of in-person instruction for most middle school students until 2021 (they were originally slated to begin on Nov. 23).

And in late November, the board gave Winston the authority to shift individual schools to remote learning after quarantines at two schools that serve students with special needs forced the district to pause instruction entirely due to operational concerns.

Margaret Marshall and Rhonda Cheek — both of whom have previously voted in favor of bringing students back for in-person learning more quickly — voted in favor Tuesday of shifting to remote learning, citing the increased cases. Cheek said she did not want to see any further delays to the date of resuming in-person instruction for the district beyond Jan. 19.

Unless the board votes to postpone the Jan. 19 date, it will be the first time most middle and high school students are in in-person instruction this academic year.

Board chair Elyse Dashew said it was crucial for the entire county to do its part in slowing the spread of the virus.

“The light is at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “Please, please, please take care of yourselves, your loved ones and your community.”