As central North Carolina thaws from a weekend ice storm, several school districts are making plans for the school day on Tuesday. It also leaves parents in Wake County wondering: When will students return to the classroom?
All Wake County Public School System schools will be learning remotely Tuesday for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic — a precaution taken because of possible black ice on some roads Tuesday morning.
“Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we work to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and families,” the district wrote in a message to families announcing the decision.
The second semester, including new classes for middle and high school students, starts this week.
This week’s foray in school-at-home — including the remote learning day Monday for year-round schools — won’t look like remote learning did back during the pandemic.
There will be no Zoom or Google meet calls, no schedules.
It will be asynchronous only, meaning students will complete assignments given to them in paper packets or on Canvas. Teachers will take attendance based on their completion, according to the district, but it’s up to teachers whether to grade those assignments.
Teachers will be available during normal school hours to answer questions and provide feedback in Canvas.
Scheduling remote learning means the district doesn’t have use any make-up days.
Many families were upset last school year that Wake didn’t do remote learning, ultimately causing rescheduled school days, including multiple days of Saturday school for year-round schools. After that, Wake established an in-house protocol for conducting remote learning, with guidance from the school board. The district hadn’t used remote learning until Monday. During inclement weather in December, they canceled school entirely instead for multiple days.
Wake explained to families last week how students will receive assignments, and which students will receive them online or in paper packets.
It’s unclear how students with disabilities who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) will receive services, outside of accommodations during assignments. Those services could include extra help with math or speech therapy — whatever may be written into the students’ IEP. WRAL News asked Wake Schools if students would be provided with those services remotely or if they will be rescheduled, but the district has not yet provided an answer.
Susan Book, whose son has autism, is nervous about starting the second semester Tuesday remotely.
“He’s scared. He’s just nervous,” Book said. “You can tell like he’s he’s doing a more nervous stim than he normally does. So there are, there are signs, even though he’s trying to be calm, that he’s not as calm as he wants to be.”
Book acknowledged the difficulty of the situation and the safety issues posed by ice and said she’s thankful for the district trying to keep people safe.
But she’s not sure what remote learning will look like Tuesday, especially because Emerson doesn’t know his new teachers and hasn’t learned anything yet in his new classes, including biology. He does better with routine and expectations.
“There’s not a lot of feedback
coming from Wake County, what that’s supposed to look like, specifically, and
he starts a brand new semester for high school, which means a brand new
schedule, brand new teachers that he has never met,” Book said.
How remote learning works in and around the Triangle
All schools in our viewing area were closed Monday
Durham Public Schools, like most around Wake County, has been doing remote learning on inclement weather days for years.
In Durham, students also use paper packets and Canvas assignments. They must return assignments within a certain number of days for taking attendance and grading.
In Orange County Schools, schools give at least five days for students to return or complete paper and digital assignments. Assignments must have step-by-step instructions and enhance learning with an appropriate level of challenge. Teacher are available for video calls.
Johnston County Schools provides assignments online, but notes that completed assignments won’t be graded, only reviewed.
In Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, students are given assignments, largely online, and teachers are available for virtual office hours for middle and high schools.
How Wake County determines whether to let students stay home during winter weather
Per internal procedures, Wake can shift to remote learning before all banked days and teacher workdays are used if the superintendent can see a storm coming days in advance that poses a threat to schools. Other school districts have similar approaches.
Public schools can only use up to five days of remote learning in a school year, under state law.
Snow days or remote learning? Parents see benefits, shortcomings of both
Administrators consider the few days built into the school calendar, availability of technology and the state cap that says a maximum of five days per year can be designated for remote work.
While Wake County said its schools will be remote learning on Tuesday, Wilson County Schools said they will be closed on Tuesday.
Parents in various school districts have previously told WRAL News that they see benefits and shortcomings in both options, but added they sympathize with the districts that have to make those calls.
