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More Guilford County Schools Students Set To Return Thursday

Desks are spaced to maintain social distancing in this GCS elementary classroom. KERI BROWN/WFDD

The Guilford County Board of Education is making revisions to its plan to bring students back for in-person learning.

Those in pre-K through second grade will head back to classrooms starting Thursday, November 12. But grades 3 -12 won't return until January. 

The board weighed metrics presented by the local health department. They say Guilford County is experiencing some of the highest COVID-19 hospitalization levels since the pandemic began and the positivity rate is slightly above seven percent.

And they also considered new student data. Superintendent Sharon Contreras says the failure rate in Guilford County Schools is up to 40 percent.

“It is one of the highest failure rates we've ever experienced. It's extraordinary. That and the achievement gap together, missing students that we haven't been able to engage should be deeply concerning.”

School Board member Khem Irby says it's complicated, but students need to get back into classrooms.

“The longer we wait the less practice and finding out what we need to do better, it won't happen until we get in there,” she says.  “It will be a weight lifted off of their backs, those families, and just for those kids to walk into that school that emotional change that's going to happen, that's worth it. That's what we need to measure right now. “

The plan calls for elementary students will attend in-person five days per week, while middle and high school students will attend in cohorts.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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