CMS will bring students back to classrooms more often. Here’s how it will work.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students will start new in-person learning rotations later this month, bringing students into classrooms more frequently and for some, more days each week.

Starting March 15, students in middle and high schools will receive two days a week of in-person learning. Half the students will be in the buildings on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the second half will attend Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesday will be a remote learning day.

Students in elementary school and those who are in grades 6 through 8 at a K-8 school will receive four days of in-person learning starting March 22, up from two days a week currently. Wednesdays will serve as a remote learning day.

The changes were approved 9-0 by the board.

Pre-K students and a small group of students with special needs will continue to be in-person five days a week.

Board members said with the growing access to the vaccine and decreasing case loads, the community is turning a corner in terms of readiness to expand in-person learning.

“It’s time,” board vice chair Thelma Byers-Bailey said. “It’s time to let these children come back to school.”

For middle and high school students, the changes will bring them into the building with more regularity. Instead of having A, B and C groups rotate between one week of in-person learning and two weeks of remote learning, the district will incorporate the C group into the A and B groups.

While the change won’t significantly increase the number of in-person learning days for students, deputy superintendent Matt Hayes said the change will bring students into contact with their teachers and support network at school with increased regularity.

End-of-year testing will take place between May 12 and May 28, officials said.

Social distancing requirements require six feet of social distancing in middle and high schools, making full classrooms a logistical challenge. Elementary schools have some more flexibility and can implement the state’s Plan A, with safety measures like required face coverings.

Still, some parents said students need to be in classrooms five days a week, a demand that faces challenges for upper grades under current social distancing restrictions.

“We’ve all seen the immediate consequences, but we can’t even begin to know how kids will be impacted for decades to come,” said Meg Kemp, a CMS parent. “All CMS students K through 12 deserve to be back in their classrooms, five days a week.”

The decision comes as the issue of in-person learning remains at the forefront at the state level. The General Assembly has tried to pass a law requiring school districts to offer a full-time in-person option to all students. Now, state guidance says K-5 students only should follow Plan A while Plan B is in effect for students in sixth through 12th grades.

While Senate Bill 37 passed with bipartisan support, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill. The Senate failed to override the veto. But Tuesday, Cooper and Republican lawmakers said a compromise on reopening schools may be imminent, The News & Observer reported.

Concerns about CMS decision

CMS teachers and staff members expressed frustration with how the decision was implemented. Some said they found out about the school board’s plan when their schedules changed in Powerschool, a software that lets teachers manage attendance and grading information, even though district leaders said no decisions were made.

Meredith Fox, a CMS teacher, said the district needs to be more transparent with its employees. She also said rushing through a change in the schedule, instead of giving teachers time to plan, is irresponsible.

“We all want our students back in the classroom,” Fox said. “Those of us on the ground are best equipped to help you accomplish this successfully. So why are we being left out of the conversation?”

Hayes said the changes in Powerschool were made to see if the proposed rotations would be possible, and not meant to indicate that a decision had been made. He said the new schedules were not a permanent change and could be reverted easily if the proposed change was not approved.

Unless a student is facing hardship, he or she will not be allowed to transition between in-person rotations or the full remote academy. Hayes said many of the in-person rotations are close to the limits of what social distancing guidelines allow, and changes to those numbers could result in some rotations being overcapacity.

This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 10:56 PM.