LEDGER – The Mitchell County Board of Education met Monday, June 29 to discuss possible plans to reopen schools in the fall.
In early June, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) released requirements and recommendations for schools to reopen for the 20-21 school year.
The full guide consisted of three plans that would follow different levels of social distancing, ranging from moderate social distancing to remote learning only.
On Tuesday, June 23, the school system sent out a survey asking parents and students their preferences for resuming schools. According to Superintendent Chad Calhoun, the school system received 539 responses to the survey.
Calhoun said about a third of the responses said they would prefer virtual school with varying reasons, ranging from a lack of a vaccine to worrying about a child wearing a mask.
“I will recommend to this board we figure out some type of virtual school, because we know there’s an interest out there based on the responses we got back,” he said. “We know we’ll offer something virtual.”
The board discussed different possibilities for virtual school for those families who do not wish to send their child back to in-person instruction, but cited funding as a possible roadblock.
“We don’t know the exact guidance and recommendations for this right now,” Calhoun said. “We don’t want to create something we can’t fund, even though we know some type of virtual learning is needed.”
The board is expecting an announcement later this week from the governor and NCDPI about how students will go back to school in August.
Calhoun said he hoped the announcement would provide more clarity about what school will look like.
For complete coverage of the NCDPI announcement, reaction from local educators and how it applies to you, see next week’s Mitchell News-Journal.