Beyond masks: FAQ on Charlotte schools and COVID
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Charlotte 2021 Back to School
Due to COVID-19, masks are required at CMS and adults are encouraged to get vaccinated. There’s also a push among educators ad parents to catch up students who lost academic progress during the pandemic.
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Local parents, educators and students opened the new academic year with a full return to classrooms in Charlotte amid the worst spread of COVID-19 locally since vaccines have been readily available.
On the first day of class, more students than ever were, by choice, learning online through Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ virtual academy program. Lessons learned during the last year-and-a-half of the pandemic have led to CMS and most other school districts statewide requiring everyone in school buildings to wear a mask.
Aug. 25 marked the first time since public schools were forced to close in March 2020 that buses were mostly full and that every CMS teacher was face-to-face daily with every pupil assigned to their class.
As it did last year when schedules were shifted and class size was reduced, the virus looms large over back-to-school season for many families.
Here’s what to know about COVID-19 impacts and CMS’s return to the classroom.
What safety measures are in place?
In late July, the CMS school board voted 8-1 for a universal mask mandate for all individuals in school buildings. More recently, local mask requirements for indoor public spaces have been approved.
The latest federal and state guidelines suggest school districts use masks to prevent outbreaks of the coronavirus, especially among unvaccinated people — a move that many in the education field hope will also limit the need for widespread quarantining among students and staff.
School staff will promote social distancing in the classroom, cafeteria, bus, and extracurricular activities. Masks aren’t required outdoors.
The district is not requiring vaccination of employees at this time.
What are quarantine rules?
Anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 cannot come to school for at least 10 days. If a person with a confirmed case was at school within two days of having symptoms or within two days of being tested, CMS officials will work with health officials to do contact tracing. This generally involves identifying anyone on school grounds who had close contact with the sick person for 15 minutes or more. If that process shows students involved wore masks the whole time there was possible exposure, CMS will not require these close contacts to quarantine.
In cases of an adult who is vaccinated against the virus and deemed a close contact, quarantine is not required unless they are showing symptoms. In cases where a student or staff member is required to quarantine, the standard 10-day time span may be shortened. Individuals quarantined due to possible exposure may return to school in seven days if they have not developed symptoms, or in five days if they test negative.
For close contacts, district quarantine protocol says anyone who had a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last three months is not required to miss school.
What happens if my child has to quarantine?
Patrick Smith, the assistant superintendent of communications, said principals will notify teachers who have students absent for five-plus consecutive days for illness and quarantine.
According to CMS, for students with an extended absence, teachers will:
▪ Contact the student through CMS email, Canvas, or phone to provide makeup work.
▪ Maintain an assignment list/due dates in Canvas so students will know assignments when they have short or extended absences.
▪ Make items like workbooks or computers or other school-related resources available for a parent to pick up or otherwise send the materials to the student at home. Students without home internet will be given printed materials.
▪ Quarantined students will be granted a five-day grace period to turn in assignments late without penalty.
▪ Once quarantine is over, the student will take make-up tests upon returning to the classroom.
Will there be COVID testing?
Not yet but county health officials have recommended on-site testing in schools in order to catch COVID-19 cases early before outbreaks occur. Testing could also assist students and staff deemed close contacts to have shorter quarantine times.
Health Director Gibbie Harris has suggested non-vaccinated teachers and staff be tested weekly.
CMS officials told the Observer Tuesday they’re reviewing a long list of Harris’s most-recent suggestions, some of which are in place, like making sure sick students stay home and a district-wide quarantine policy.
The Observer reported Aug. 27 that recommended testing and vaccination tracking are not yet in place at CMS.
Will schools close if outbreaks get bad?
A North Carolina law that wasn’t in place last year dictates that public school districts may not institute remote learning for students in place of classrooms once the doors reopen. It’s unclear how districts will handle instruction if COVID cases and related quarantine measures force a large percentage of teachers or students to stay home.
Will more be done?
Harris said there were concerns voiced at the end of the last school year that school staff, especially principals, were being relied on inappropriately to address COVID-19 issues, resulting in overburdened staff and challenges with the contact tracing response.
She added that school nurses cannot be the answer to address all things COVID-19 in schools.
“Their role and responsibilities are broad and must be maintained to assure a safe and healthy environment for students,” Harris wrote in the letter. “Adding COVID-19 education, teacher support, testing, vaccines, and contact tracing to those responsibilities is not feasible.”
Mecklenburg health officials have suggested that CMS add more staff, including additional staffing to support the response at individual schools. Those additional staff members would help manage testing, contact tracing, education, linkage to the Health Department and data support. Harris said her team will be available to train staff and provide on-going support.
Can I expect delays if my child is on a bus?
At the beginning of the school year, it is typical to have longer bus rides and occasional delays as adjustments are made to ensure the safe and timely delivery of all bus riders.
CMS has the eighth largest transportation department in the country. According to CMS, the district is running more than 950 buses serving about 92,000 students.
On Tuesday, there were 87 bus driver vacancies, of which 42 are open positions and 45 are on extended leave. The district is hosting a driver hiring event on Sept. 8 at the Northpointe Bus Lot and incentives will be announced shortly.
Buses will be sanitized twice daily, and drivers will have some spare face coverings available. In addition, hand sanitizer will be available on buses.
If there are questions or concerns related to bus service, email transportation@cms.k12.nc.us or call (980) 343-6715.
How will lunch work as far as COVID protocol?
Masks are not required while actively eating or drinking.
CMS buildings are not cookie-cutter buildings, Matthew Hayes, the deputy superintendent of academics, said. So each school staff has been working out lunch protocols with “safety leading the way.” So lunch protocols will differ from building to building.
“We also want parents and the community to understand we have taken increased measures to keep students safe,” Christine Pejot, CMS chief human resources officer, said. “For example, when students do go through the lunch line in addition to trying to maintain social distancing to the extent possible, we’ve taken the necessary steps to ensure kids don’t have to use any type of touch screen so it’s going to be a touchless system for students to receive their lunches as they go through the year.”
What about sports?
Any student-athlete, coach or staff member who participates in an indoor sport at CMS schools must wear a mask. This mandate extends to teams from other school districts who are playing away games in CMS facilities — those student-athletes must wear masks, as well.
With football season underway, a number of teams across the state have been temporarily benched due to outbreaks among student-athletes.
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 3:29 PM.
