Shift to Plan B for NHCS could happen in early October, students can remain fully remote

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Schools have been back in session for several weeks, but another shift in learning could be coming soon.

The shift to Plan B learning could be coming as soon as the beginning of October. Under this plan, families have the option of keeping their kids fully remote though.

The school district says this isn’t the perfect plan, but they want to accommodate as many people as possible.

There is a lot of confusion for families as they try to figure out the learning options for their students, and what that may look like.

“The board and the schools have always talked about transparency,” Bob Lockerby, the father of two 5th graders, said. “This would be a time to be transparent.”

Schools in the county are just about halfway through the first grading period of the school year under a fully remote learning plan, and parents are already looking ahead to the potential shift to Plan B learning.

“My concern has been that they haven’t really been looking at a way to transition to bring in-person learning back and mesh that with the folks who still want to do remote learning,” Lockerby said.

With the option families have to keep their kids fully remote under Plan B, Lockerby is concerned about how that’s going to look, and how the two options are going to be intertwined.

“Since every schools is different,” he said. “The populations are different. the physical facilities are different. Some schools may be able to handle more kids. Something different than a one and three type of plan they’re going with, and some other schools may have to go one and three.”

Wit several options on the table, Assistant Superintendent of Support Services Julie Varnam says learning is going to look different for students who stay fully remote, on the one week their typical class is at school.

“The assignments are going to be different that week,” Varnam said. “The teacher assignments are going to be different. There will be another group to potentially connect with, or the student can do fully asynchronous activities that week. As long as students are continuing to participate with completing work, we’re not going to be concerned about absences.”

Varnam says they’ll work with families on a case by case basis. According to state statutes on attendance, she says as long as there is a sufficient efforts made by the parents and students to complete their assignments and be present in some form, they will not penalize students for absences.

These changes could all be coming in just a few weeks.

“The previous decision and determination of the board was that we would go into Plan B at the end of the first grading period,” Varnam said.

The end of the grading period for traditional and year-round schools in the county is at the beginning of October. The district says it’s working to finalize those dates, and hopes to have them posted online by early next week.

For parents like Lockerby, he just wants to be involved in the process. He says he would like to hear from the district more often with updates on planning. He says he understands there may not be a final decision in place for certain plans yet, but he would like to be a part of the discussions.

“They need to be engaged parents, I think,” he said. “Parents need to be engaged. Teachers obviously need to be engaged too.  As parents, we speak for the students. They’re our kids, and I think the principals know their schools best.”

The school board is holding an interim meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to determine whether to move forward with the original decision to shift to Plan B at the end of the first grading period.

Varnam says there is no hard deadline for when families have to decide whether to keep their kids fully remote, or follow Plan B. She says the decision can change mid-year if need be, as long as the family communicates issues with their student’s school.

For teachers, Varnam says they’ll be trying to make accommodations for fully remote learning and other needs on a medical-need basis.

The district’s virtual school is set to start in 2021, and is currently accepting applications.