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Guilford County Schools Delaying Reentry For Middle School Students

Officials with Guilford County Schools say students, teachers, and staff will be required to wear face coverings both indoors and outdoors, except when eating or drinking when they return to buildings. Parents must also request transportation for their children. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Guilford County Schools is welcoming back more students to classrooms Tuesday. But some of the district's reopening plan has been modified.

Students in third, fourth, and fifth grades will return to buildings this week. They will join younger elementary students and exceptional children who have been attending in-person classes since November.

But middle schoolers will have to wait a little longer after a two-week delay was announced. They will attend in cohorts. The first group of sixth graders will now return on January 21.  Grades seven and eight will return the following week.

Nora Carr, with Guilford County Schools, says this gives the district additional time to review COVID-19 data, science, and health protocols for this age group.

“It's a challenging time,” she says. “And we understand that people can read the science and the data and come out with different ideas than we have coalesced around and that's why we are trying to give as much choice as possible.”

Carr says parents can also opt for remote learning for their children. As of now, GCS high schools are also scheduled to reopen for in-person learning later this month.  

Carr says that based on recent survey data, around 70 percent of parents have chosen to have their children come back to classrooms. Thirty percent have chosen remote, including those enrolled in virtual academies.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

*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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