The Orange County Schools Board of Education updated its plan for school this fall on Monday, moving to nine weeks of remote learning to begin the year.

The board approved a recommendation to extend its initial four-week period of remote instruction following surveys of the district’s community about instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a presentation during Monday’s meeting, 42 percent of parents who responded prefer an exclusively virtual program compared to in-person instruction. OCS certified staff also said they would prefer this, with 82 percent recommending working remotely until conditions change.

To aid children who need consistent internet access or facilities where they can work, the district is considering establishing Supervised Learning Labs around northern Orange County. The labs would be structured with a day camp style, where students would work from locations like libraries, county buildings or school district campuses to complete remote learning materials.

Orange County Schools follow the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district in moving the first nine weeks of schooling to its remote model. CHCCS changed its plan from a hybrid of in-person teaching and remote instruction after examining federal health guidelines and community feedback.

OCS leadership mentioned similar public health data and metrics as determinants of their decision on Monday. Monitoring these criteria will also affect when the school system chooses to move to a Plan B model of instruction, which would involve students returning to campuses.

Some of the health metrics include four consecutive weeks of COVID-like illness cases seeing a downward trend at emergency departments and less than 5 percent positive coronavirus tests in the county in daily reports.

The school board also provided some further details and updates on how its Remote Learning 2.0 plan will operate, which is the plan expected to be implemented during the nine-week period to start the year. To inform parents and students about the plan, a virtual information session is slated for Monday July 27 at 4 p.m.

More information about Orange County Schools Board of Education’s meeting can be found on the district’s website.

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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