CHCCS, Orange County Schools Adopt Updated In-Person Learning Models for K-5 Students

With new mandates in place from the state government, Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools recently made changes to their plans of in-person instruction for elementary school students.

The Orange County Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a variation to the Plan A learning model during its meeting Monday night, which will see K-5 students return to classrooms four days each week beginning on Wednesday, April 7. Some students will participate in in-person learning Mondays through Thursdays with minimal social distancing and will use remote learning on Fridays as classrooms are cleaned.

Orange County Schools board members also approved for middle school and high school students to remain in their Plan B learning model, where cohorts of students return to classrooms two days a week and others continue to work remotely, for the rest of the academic year.

The change will shift the district from its hybrid learning plan to comply with the North Carolina law Senate Bill 220. Signed into effect by Governor Roy Cooper on March 10, the bipartisan legislation requires school systems to offer full in-person instruction for elementary school students effective by April 1. The state government had previously allowed exclusively remote learning options for school districts amid response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. State officials say ongoing research of the coronavirus’ spread, however, shows younger children are less likely to transit or experience severe symptoms from COVID-19.

Orange County Schools is beginning this Plan A implementation after the April 1 deadline the district’s spring break runs March 29 through April 2.

Similarly, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education approved a four-day in-person learning schedule for grades K-5 also beginning after spring break. The plan, approved during an extended Thursday meeting, will see the district use Wednesdays as its designated cleaning day on campuses, meaning students will learn through remote methods. CHCCS began its Plan B schedule on Monday, meaning some elementary students will only use the hybrid learning for one week and other students will continue their chosen learning models. Middle and high school students are continuing in a Plan B instruction model through the rest of the academic year.

CHCCS Superintendent Nyah Hamlett said schools and district leaders are working on plans for providing instructional support to students during the Wednesday remote learning days.

“While we understand that there are some concerns about limited child care options for one day per week, and what students and parents can expect from staff on Wednesdays,” Hamlett wrote in a message to families Friday, “we are planning to work with our school principals and district administrators to consider what extended learning opportunities might be available now that we know that Plan A in CHCCS will be four days per week through the end of this school year.”

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ return of students to classrooms on Monday marked the first time widespread in-person instruction had been held in more than one year. The system paused in-person instruction and extended spring break in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before pivoting to a remote model for the rest of the calendar year. Orange County Schools began their Plan B model of learning on March 8.

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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