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Middle and high school students in New Hanover County Schools now have the option to return full-time to the classroom starting April 12th.
Secondary parents now have three options: send their kids to school five days a week, remain on a hybrid schedule, or solely remote.
And according to the most recent district survey, with about half of families responding, about 60% of students are planning to return full-time.
Board Chair Stefanie Adams says vaccines are game-changers for teachers and that many of them should be fully vaccinated by the April reopening date. She also says she understands the risks, that students over thirteen transmit the virus like adults,
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At Tuesday night’s New Hanover County School Board meeting, the announcement came that school staff will be vaccinated in Phase 1B. There were also concerns from some community members about the impending elementary reopening.
There were twenty ‘Calls to the Audience’, from community members who shared public comments with the board. And most asked officials to reconsider their decision to fully reopen pre-K through elementary schools on January 19th. Some also mentioned recent fatalities from Covid-19 among educators and asked for documentation on the county’s risk assessment for reopening.
Kaleigh Pare is a sixth-grade social studies teacher at the International School at Gregory and a member of the New Hanover County Association of Educators.