Cumberland board votes to send students back to school in January

After considering survey data from parents across the county, the board voted 6-3 in favor of the plan, which would stagger the in-person learning start date for students in traditional calendar schools as soon as Jan. 7. Students in year-round schools would return beginning on Jan. 11.

Groups of students will attend schools on either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday. Schools would be closed Wednesday while all students learn remotely.

By Feb. 1, the board's plan calls for students in kindergarten through fifth grades to return to school full time.

Smaller class sizes, daily temperature checks, mask requirements and one-way hallways, among other policies, have been used in other districts to minimize the spread of the virus.

"I want to reiterate that this proposal is contingent upon the metrics being in the right place in January when we re-enter," Superintendent Marvin Connelly said.

The school board also voted to bring some high school students back to their campuses between Dec. 14 and Dec. 18 to take end-of-course tests and to allow teachers to wait until Jan. 4 before returning campuses to get ready for the return of students.

Sixty percent of teachers surveyed said they felt uncomfortable returning to their schools in December.

One mother wrote to the school board urging the county to reopen schools. She said she is concerned her senior, an A student, won't be ready for college without in-person learning, adding that each day of virtual learning is a day of missed instruction her daughter and peers won't get back.

She also reminded board members that middle and high school students are especially capable of wearing masks in the classroom and practicing social distancing and said she believes in testing and safety protocols.

"These students need their teachers in person. They need their counselors in person," another parent said, explaining the stability of school is a safe haven for many students.

Another parents argued differently, saying teachers and students will be in danger if schools reopened before the pandemic is under control.

"Other schools have opened, but at what cost? Please consider to keep all schools closed," the statement read.

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Cumberland County Schools is the fifth largest district in North Carolina, serving over 52,000 students.