Health screenings and temperature checks no longer required at NC public schools
North Carolina public schools will no longer have to do daily temperature checks and charter schools can now offer full-time, daily in-person instruction to all their students.
The state Department of Health and Human Services updated its school reopening toolkit this week to say that the daily health screenings and temperature checks of students and staff are no longer required. DHHS also updated the guidance to allow all middle schools and high schools to offer Plan A: daily in-person instruction with minimal social distancing requirements.
The updated DHHS guidance addresses how charter schools had been excluded from a recently approved state law that allowed school districts to operate all their schools on Plan A. The State Board of Education adopted the updated DHHS guidance on Thursday.
“We have an opportunity to update that guidance so all students can experience daily in-person instruction,” said state board chairman Eric Davis.
Screenings were added due to COVID
The daily screenings had been required this school year to try to identify people arriving on campus who may have the coronavirus. The screening requirement is being dropped as the number of students getting in-person instruction will rise over the next few weeks.
During the screenings, people answer questions such as whether they have a fever or cough. If they answer yes or have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, they could be sent home.
Parents have been asked to stay with their children in the carpool lane, which has slowed down the arrival of students.
But now DHHS says the daily checks are no longer recommended or required for K-12 students. Daily checks are optional for school staff.
Schools will still follow other safety protocols, such as requiring students, school employees and visitors to wear face masks on campus.
Wake County is discussing the change in screening requirements but is still giving them, according to Lisa Luten, a district spokeswoman. But a change is likely as school leaders have talked about getting relief from the state.
Charter schools get flexibility
Until the new state law was passed this month, only elementary schools could use Plan A. The new law allows school districts to operate middle and high schools on Plan A or Plan B, which has a requirement of 6 feet of social distancing.
Dozens of school districts have voted to move all grade levels to Plan A, including Wake and Johnston counties and Charlotte-Mecklenburg. But excluding the charters in the law meant they couldn’t use Plan A for middle and high school until the toolkit was updated this week.
As part of the new reopening law, school districts that are moving to Plan A in middle and high schools are required to allow the ABC Science Collaborative to analyze and collect COVID-19 related data. The group was formed by Duke University to help school districts working on reopening issues during the pandemic.
The state board approved a $500,000 contract Thursday with the ABC Science Collaborative for the data collection.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Health screenings and temperature checks no longer required at NC public schools."
