Many school districts in North Carolina are bringing back more students for daily in-person classes. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education will meet Thursday evening to decide if it's ready to do the same for middle and high school students.
Educators say they're excited to see more faces, but still have a lot of concerns.
If the district moves to Plan A, sixth through 12th graders could attend in-person classes four days a week with no cohorts — like elementary schools are already doing. Some educators say it's too soon to bring back all students daily when vaccinations are still taking place and many challenges remain, especially for larger urban districts.
Earlier this month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced revised social distancing guidance in schools from six feet to three feet.
“It's a challenge to try to figure out how we are going to do three feet, to navigate moving them from class to class," says Val Young who is President of the Forsyth County Association of Educators. “How do we do all of this safely? It looks great on paper, but the logistics of it are frightening. And the time period."
All students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools would return full-time in-person shortly after spring break (the week of April 19) if the school board approves the change.
Other large districts including Wake County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg recently approved returning middle and high school students to classrooms.
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