CMS School Board Votes To Return Students To Classes In Phases

CHARLOTTE, NC — Students of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will begin returning to their classrooms beginning next month, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted Wednesday night in a special meeting. The board also approved possible temporary furloughs of hourly employees who work for the district.

The plan will bring students back to schools in phases, starting with younger grades first. High school students are not slated to return to classrooms for instruction until the first week in January.

“We want our students back in classrooms, but we have waited until we have a plan that minimizes the risks for students and staff,” Board Chair Elyse Dashew said, according to a statement.

The new phased plan includes directives and metrics to help determine if schools should close due to an increase in COVID-19 infections. Schools may shut down, for example, if there's a greater than 10 percent test positivity rate average in the community for seven days, or mor than 50 schools in the district with at least one positive COVID-19 test reported in a two week period, according to CMS guidance.

The CMS Phases Return To In-Person Instruction Plan may be found here.

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Here's the timeline for how the phased return will occur, CMS said:

• Week of Oct. 12 — all pre-kindergarteners will return
• Week of Nov. 2 — Groups of Kindergarten - Grade 5 students will return on a rotational basis
• Week of Nov. 23 — Groups of middle school students will return on a rotational basis
• Week of Dec 14 and Dec. 21 — Groups of high school students will return for testing
• Week of Jan. 5, 2021 — Groups of high school students will return to classrooms for instruction on a rotational basis

Says the school board:

• Rotations will follow the group A, group B, and group C assignments communicated to families and students in August.
• Schools with nontraditional grade spans, such as the district’s K-8 schools, Cochrane Collegiate Academy and Northwest School of the Arts, will return in carefully sequenced phases, with students in grades six through eight returning with other middle school students, and students in grades nine through 12 returning with other high school students.
• Students whose families opted to participate in the Full Remote Academy will remain in the academy through the first semester unless families request an exemption. Any requests to transfer from the Full Remote Academy into the in-person rotation will be addressed by schools individually.

"Rotation ... how are parents supposed to manage this with jobs," one parent commented on CMS social media.

"I really don't understand doing it in the middle of flu season," wrote another.

SEE ALSO: First Day Of School In NC Prompts Tech Challenges, COVID Concerns

School officials also voted Wednesday night to give CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston authority to use full or partial furloughs for CMS hourly workers. The furloughs could begin Sept. 21, but the authority granted to Winston expires June 1, 2021.

The temporary move, which could affect up to 1,225 employees, would be for jobs that could not be done remotely The Charlotte Observer reported.

“We want to keep everyone working and earning salaries but the COVID pandemic has disrupted operations with budgetary implications,” CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston said in a statement. “We may have to make some very tough choices. However, furloughed employees may be recalled more quickly and with fewer hurdles than we could face with layoffs. We will use this flexibility to help our employees as much as possible.”

SEE ALSO:

• NC COVID-19 Update: 1,137 Newly Confirmed Cases, 38 Deaths
• When Is The First Day Of Fall 2020? Events In Charlotte
  
• NC Schools Ranked Among 2021’s Best Colleges: US News