NHCS votes to delay Pre-K-Grade 5 transition to Plan A until Jan. 18, 2021

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — The NHCS Board of Education voted unanimously to delay the pre-K through grade 5 transition to Plan A until the week of January 18, 2021.

The vote took place at a special meeting on Sat., Dec. 12.

The first two weeks of the second semester from Monday, January 4 through Friday, January 15 will be remote learning for all pre-K through grade 5 students.

There will be no school on Monday, January 18, 2021 due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Plan A for pre-K through grade 5 students will begin on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Students in grades 6 through 12 will remain in Plan B.

The meeting Saturday lasted about five hours featuring several informative presentations to help board members come to a decision. Then, board member Judy Justice motioned.

“I would like to motion,” said Justice, “that we postpone the implementation of Plan A.”

According to several board members, teachers and members of the community reached out all week, many concerned about social distancing and not having enough time to set up classrooms.

“It will give everybody more time to plan, that’s for sure,” said Justice. “And as you’ve heard last week and even today, planning is huge. The teachers, the administrators, all the staff, bus, transportation, they’re all going to need more time.”

The ABC commission concluded in the last New Hanover County Board of Education meeting that Plan A would be safe if schools abided by the three “W’s”.

A recent staff study found social distancing six feet in Plan A would be impossible, and even three feet would vary classroom to classroom.

In the wake of that finding, many teachers, staff, and supporters gathered in the school board parking lot before the meeting, voicing concerns over their safety without social distancing.

“So we just don’t find that there’s any consistency with their messaging,” said Amanda White, an Educators Association representative. “They’re not going to insure that teachers have a place, a safe place to educate children. And it’s going to affect us after all of this is over.”

The ABC study also found most COVID-19 cases during Plan B originated in the community, not within the school system, meaning precautions during Plan B were enough to limit student and staff transmission.

“I think if you look across the state with the collaborative data,” said Nelson Beaulieu, Vice Chairperson of the Board of Education, “we see very, very, very low transmission within our school setting. There are cases that pop up from students, but it looks to us those cases come from the community at large and aren’t really coming from within the school system.”

The Board of Education also voted unanimously to align the Restart Year-Round Calendars for Rachel Freeman School of Engineering and Snipes Academy of Arts & design with traditional school calendars for the first two weeks of the second semester.

Freeman School of Engineering and Snipes Academy will also be in remote learning for all pre-K through grade 5 students from January 4-15.

There will be no school on Monday, January 18, 2021 due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Plan A for pre-K through grade 5 students will begin on Tuesday, January 19, 2021..