Bill allows more kids in classroom after Spring Break
In compliance with new orders from the state government, Macon County Schools will be offering more in-person learning for students starting after spring break.
Earlier this month, Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 220, which requires school systems to provide some amount of in-person learning for students in grades K-12. Students in grades K-5 have to be given the Plan A option, while grades 6-12 can choose between Plan A and Plan B. Both plans require basic preventative standards, including face coverings, to be in place in schools, but Plan A doesn’t require six feet of social distancing, meaning schools with larger student bodies can now host all of their students on campus full-time. The plans does not require students to been in-person for five days per week and elementary school won’t be under Macon’s new plan.
“Getting students back into the classroom safely is a shared priority and this agreement will move more students to in-person instruction while retaining the ability to respond to local emergencies,” Cooper said in a statement.
K-5 students in Macon County have been operating under Plan A and going to school for four days per week since last October when the governor first gave school systems the option, so the school system is currently in compliance with the bill. However, maximized in-person learning has always been the board’s goal, so things will be different in April and May. During the Macon County Board of Education’s monthly meeting on Monday night, the board members voted unanimously to have Mountain View Intermediate School, Macon Middle School and Franklin High School shift to Plan A when students return from spring break.
“By waiting until April 5, families and teachers will be given adequate time to prepare for the schedule change,” Renee Burt, assistant to the superintendent and to the board of education, said in a release. “More importantly, all staff having chosen to be vaccinated will have been provided the two weeks required to develop immunity to COVID-19.”
Under the new schedule, Mountain View, Macon Middle and Union Academy will all maintain their virtual Fridays so that teachers can adequately interact with virtual-only students, while Franklin High and Macon Early College will host classes five days per week. Nantahala School, Highlands School and the Franklin area elementary schools will all remain on their current schedules, as will the virtual academy. The Strong Schools NC Public Health Toolkit will still be in effect and superintendent Chris Baldwin emphasized that the safety measures specified in Plan A would still be strictly enforced.
“While more of our students are allowed back on campuses, face coverings, temperature checks, symptom screenings… those things that are still outlined in the Strong Schools Toolkit will be adhered to and they are required in North Carolina Schools,” Baldwin said.
The number of quarantines and positive cases in Macon County Schools has dropped dramatically in the past few weeks, reaching the point that days without incident have become the norm. Vaccinations are becoming more widespread, with Macon County Public Health reaching 10,000 vaccinations last week. The county isn’t out of the woods yet, but the school board considers this boost in in-person instruction a huge victory.
“The intent of this board from the very get-go was to do what’s best for our students,” board chairman Jim Breedlove said. “[The importance of] face-to-face cannot be overemphasized.”
Macon County Schools will be on Spring Break March 29 through April 2, and will resume the new class schedule on Monday, April 5.