North Carolina bill would require all schools to reopen for in-person learning

BREAKING UPDATE: — Bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday in North Carolina would require all schools in the state to offer in-person learning.

It would give all North Carolina local school districts the option of moving to Plan A of in-person learning, which allows for in-person instruction with no classroom size reductions, with all K-5 schools required to operate under plan A.

“Districts moving to Plan A for middle and high schools are required to notify DHHS prior to moving to Plan A,” Senate Leader Phil Berger said. “They are required to describe their plan for moving to Plan A. DHHS will not have the authority to veto a district’s plan to move to Plan A; however, the governor will be given the authority to order a closure, restriction or reduction of operations within schools, but must only do so on a district-by-district basis.”

Middle and high schools will have the choice of Plan A or Plan B, the latter of which allows in-person learning but with fewer children in the classroom. To move to plan A, local districts will have to submit a request to the state.

The bill was introduced Wednesday in a press conference in Raleigh, and would take 3 weeks after it’s passed to take effect, Gov. Roy Cooper said. The North Carolina Senate is expected to vote on the bill later Wednesday, around 4 p.m., and the House could vote Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Cooper could sign it shortly after.

“Coming together after acrimony isn’t easy, but it’s the right thing to do for North Carolina,” said Cooper, who’s had public disagreements with Republicans on reopening.

“The good news is I think we all want the same thing. To open our schools for in-person instruction for all students and to do it safely with important emergency protections,” Cooper said. “I believe, and our public health leaders agree, that we can do that safely with precautions like face masks and other safe guards found in the public schools tool kit.”

Cooper has urged school districts to allow in-person instruction, but vetoed an earlier reopening plan that he said allowed middle and high schools not to follow CDC and state guidelines on social distancing.

He said SB 37 also removed the authority from state and local officials to put students in remote learning for emergencies such as if a new coronavirus variant caused an outbreak at a school.

Schools that operate under Plan B will still have to offer students with exceptional needs the option of Plan A, and all families will still have the choice of remote learning.

Previous coverage below

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Gov. Cooper and North Carolina General Assembly leaders is expected to make a joint announcement Wednesday on school reopening legislation.

It comes after Republican Senate leader Phil Berger said Tuesday that he and Gov. Roy Cooper (D) were “very close” to reaching an agreement on a school reopening plan.

Neither Berger nor Cooper would give specifics about what was being discussed or what the remaining issues are to try to resolve.

“We seem to be very close to an agreement in principle,” said Berger. “Things could change, but we have made substantial progress. I’m cautiously optimistic that we will reach a deal very soon.”

During a press conference Tuesday, Cooper also confirmed that the two had been discussing the issue. He said he had not seen a bill yet. He pointed out he has been calling on schools to offer in-person learning.

“Getting students and educators into classrooms is a top priority,” he said.

Cooper vetoed a bill the General Assembly passed last month that would have required an in-person option in public K-12 schools. He said he did that because it didn’t adhere to state health guidelines and limited the ability for school leaders to act if there’s another surge in cases.

Republicans in the Senate previously tried and failed to override Cooper’s veto. They moved last week to try to take a second try at overriding the veto but have yet to schedule a vote on that, as some Democrats who initially supported that say Cooper’s concerns need to be addressed.

Berger wouldn’t say if the compromise the two are discussing resolves both of those issues. He said if an agreement is indeed reached, details would be released Tuesday.

“Our top priority is to provide local districts with the flexibility to return as many students as possible to full-time in-person instruction,” Berger said.

The announcement comes as the Republican-controlled House is moving forward with a separate bill that would allow a small number of school districts to operate under Plan A, which is the state’s least restrictive social distancing plan.

Dr. Ibukun Akinboyo, a professor of pediatrics at Duke University and regional director of the ABC Science Collaborative, said her group is pleased with the latest guidance from state health officials that calls for districts to offer in-person learning.

Her group criticized the CDC’s school opening guidelines as “broad and flawed.” You can read more about that here.
“We’ve shown time and time again here locally in North Carolina but also across the country and across the world that community transmission rates do not directly translate to spread of COVID-19 in schools,” she said. “What’s actually happening in the school in terms of masking, distancing, tracing out who’s infected and ventilation has much more powerful impact on spread as compared to what’s going on in the immediate community.”

The state Department of Health and Human Services has only called for middle and high schools to return under Plan B, which calls for six feet of distance.

CBS 17 asked her about the proposals in the General Assembly to allow middle and high schools to operate under Plan A instead and whether science supports that.

She said, “It’s a tricky question. I think the science supports that if schools can show they can follow mitigation practices, particularly in Plan B, the hybrid approach where you are pacing yourself, testing out your mitigation practices and compliance in Plan B, potentially you can start to bring in even more kids. Understandably, there’s funding and resources and we need to train staff. So, there are many things involved that are involved in that. But, some schools have the opportunity to sort of practice by bringing in the younger kids who are usually in one classroom and may not be shifting classrooms over the course of the day. I think that experience should definitely increase the chance of success if they bring in middle and high schoolers in person at full capacity.”

There’s also been concern about what impact the COVID-19 variants will have on cases overall and how that should impact what decisions are made about opening schools.

When asked about that, Dr. Akinboyo said, “The good thing is we have seen data from schools in person even with variants spreading in the community to suggest that schools can still have in-person education as an option. For those that might be ready and willing to accept it, they can have that option safely. So, I’m certainly in the camp of those watching and waiting to learn more how those variants will impact all of us, particularly protection from our vaccines. But, I don’t think it impacts the decision to have the option to open schools in person.”