Wake parents looking to move children from Virtual Academy to classrooms face new hurdles

When parents were enrolling students in the Wake County Public School System's Virtual Academy last spring, the school district asked them for a year-long commitment unless coronavirus vaccines became widely available for the students' age group.

"If that occurs, the commitment will be reduced to one semester, and any requested movements could occur between first and second semester," district officials wrote in an email to Virtual Academy parents at the time.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month granted emergency authorization for Pfizer's vaccine for children as young as 5. According to state Department of Health and Human Services data, 14 percent of North Carolina children ages 5 to 11 have already received one vaccination shot, and that figure rises to 45 percent among those ages 12 to 17.

"As soon as he was vaccinated, I wanted to get him back into school because I recognize that’s really important," Sarah Wilson said Wednesday of her 8-year-old son, Liam.

Liam, who's in the second grade, has been taking classes remotely since his family moved to Fuquay-Varina shortly after the start of the pandemic last year.

"I feel like it’s kind of isolating," Wilson said. "There’s a lot in in-person school in terms of the structure kids learn and the socialization that he’s missing out on."

But the school district has backtracked on its promise that vaccinated students could shift from Virtual Academy to classroom instruction at the beginning of the second semester. Citing the potential disruption caused by large-scale transfers, the complexity of the scheduling process and instructional continuity for Virtual Academy students, officials now say transfers will be decided on a school-by-school basis as space allows.

Virtual academy student switch at semester poses planning challenges for Wake officials

More than 9,750 students are enrolled in the Virtual Academy.

"I think the school board should have been more proactive in anticipating this would happen," Wilson said of families wishing to return to in-person instruction. "At some point, they’re going to have to move all these kids back to in-person anyway, so why wait until summer? Why not make that change now and open it up?"

Wilson said she contacted the principal at her son's school and was able to find space for him so he can return to class in January, and she encouraged other parents to be similarly proactive.

"If you want to get your child into in-person, just contact them directly and try to see if there’s a spot for them," she said.

Liam, she added, is excited about going to elementary school for the first time.

"He keeps telling me how excited he is, so it’s a step toward the normal we’ve been missing for so long," she said. "He’s excited about recess and all those things you miss out on when you’re in virtual."