Brandon Tester | Daily Journal
                                Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kate Smith explains the district’s modified reentry plan during a called Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

Brandon Tester | Daily Journal

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kate Smith explains the district’s modified reentry plan during a called Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

HAMLET — The Richmond County Schools Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved changes to the district’s reentry plan that are meant to improve operations and remedy concerns brought forth by staff members and families.

The district is preparing to welcome back approximately 600 elementary school students who chose to transition from remote learning back to in-person learning after the first nine weeks of the fall semester. Further ahead in the semester, on Nov. 16, the school system will also welcome back middle school students who elected to return to in-person classes for the first time this year. High school students will be able to return to the classroom when the spring semester begins.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kate Smith presented the reentry plan modifications during a called board meeting on Tuesday. Superintendent Jeff Maples noted that the proposed changes would help the district “get to the finish line,” and he added that the district’s current operational structure is “not sustainable.”

This second phase of the district’s reentry plan is set to begin on Nov. 2, with any K-5 students who chose to transition from remote learning rejoining their classmates in-person. Smith noted that there is a small number of cases “here and there” where students who attended in-person classes earlier in the semester chose to switch to remote learning.

In accordance with the changes approved Tuesday, K-5 students attending in-person classes will do so four days a week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays, all elementary students — regardless of their learning preference — will work remotely on asynchronous assignments. In an asynchronous format, lessons are posted online for students to access at their own pace.

Smith said Wednesday is designated as an asynchronous virtual learning day in order to allow time for increased cleaning and disinfecting at school facilities, give teachers more time to plan and check in with virtual students and increase the long-term sustainability of the district’s reentry plan. Smith said that, as things stand currently, many teachers have had to use their built-in planning periods to work with their virtual-learning students, making the extra time on Wednesdays more necessary.

Teachers will reach out to students in self-contained Exceptional Children courses in order to craft personalized plans regarding how they’ll learn on Wednesdays.

The district’s middle school families have until Sunday to fill out a survey asking if they’d like to take their classes either in-person or remotely from now on. Based on current responses, the district is anticipating that its middle schools will be able to use a cohort format when students are able to return to in-person classes on Nov. 16. High schoolers will return to in-person classes with a similar cohort model in the spring semester. Wednesdays will also be asynchronous virtual learning days for middle school and high school students as well.

More changes to the reentry plan are possible as needs change and the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

“We are meeting with our principals and constantly getting ideas and thoughts from them,” Smith said. “… We’re always in consultation with the health department to make sure that we’re making the best decisions.”

To support the Richmond County Daily Journal, subscribe at https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/subscribe. Reach Brandon Tester at [email protected] or 910-817-2671. Follow him on Twitter @BrandonTester.