Data affirms in-person learning safe for ‘22 school year

ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County Schools students will have a remote learning option for the 2021-2022 school year based on medical need.

The ABC Science Collaborative conducted a study of each school district in North Carolina and concluded that “Plan A,” which offers full in-person learning, is safe for all grade levels when masking is in place in North Carolina.

“We really want our students to come back to face to face for a myriad of reasons,” said Dr. Kate Smith, executive director for curriculum and instruction. “We heard from our teachers, our principals, that the hybrid model was just not effective for students. We want to reconnect with our kids and rebuild that sense of community.”

The decision by RCS for a medical-need based virtual learning option was based on the data from the ABC Science Collaborative. RCS received about 165 responses from parents through a survey that asked questions about their child’s experience with the 2020-2021 school year, which also guided the decision.

For the 2020-2021 school year, the hybrid teaching model, “Plan B,” combined face-to face students and virtual students in the same classroom. The ABC Science Collaborative stated that hybrid instruction can be eliminated for the upcoming school year.

“We did a really good job mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in schools under Plan A,” Smith said.

Fewer than 1 in 3,000 students who were in school buildings became infected with COVID-19, according to The ABC Science Collaborative. It also stated that when students and teachers are masked, the distance maintained between people does not matter.

Next year, if a student has an underlying condition that increases the risk for severe illness from COVID-19, or if a student resides with someone with the same increased risk, a medical evaluation form completed by a physician can be submitted.

Virtual students will be assigned a Remote Learning Facilitator, who will be a certified teacher that will be available for support after regular school hours.

There will not be a live recording of the in-class instruction that virtual students will be able to participate in. The only way that virtual students would be able to view a live, synchronous classroom setting would be through online learning systems such as Edgenuity or North Carolina Virtual Public School, not RCS.

The Public Schools of Robeson County’s Board of Education approved a plan in May that would limit the amount of students in online learning to 10% of each school’s student population, reports the Robesonian. Those students must have attained an 80% passing rate during the 2020-21 school year.

“Everybody is creating their own plan that will work for their schools and their teachers,” Smith said, who added that she knows that Robeson County has a low rate of students who have signed up for virtual school next year.

There’s no expectation for how many students will enroll in the remote learning option in Richmond County.

“We’re just really excited to get our students and staff back in to the building and start the school year off great,” Smith said.