No decisions on
prom, graduation
Murphy – Although school buildings are closed for the remainder of the school year, class is still session in homes – and, in some cases, parking lots – across Cherokee County.
“We consider each day an instructional day,” Superintendent Jeana Conley said during Thursday night’s board of education meeting.
Since mid-March, when Gov. Roy Cooper closed schools for students, teachers across the county have been finding new ways to continue teaching their students through a combination of worksheet packets, videos, online assignments and video conferencing. Nutrition staff have continued feeding students, delivering meals along bus routes.
“Although I completely understand the need to put student safety first and support the decision to continue with remote learning until the end of the year, our teachers, staff and administrators are heartbroken at being separated from their students for so long,” Conley said Tuesday morning.
“This is one of if not the most unusual event that has ever occurred in our history, and all we can do is continue to roll with the punches and put students and their families first. The board of education and I are just so very proud of our school system family, and we have no doubt they will continue to do so.”
On Thursday, the N.C. Board of Education announced a temporary grading policy for this school year. There will be no grades given in kindergarten through grade 5, she said. Instead, teachers will create a detailed written notes that will assist the student’s teacher next year when school begins.
Middle school students will receive either a pass or withdraw. Students meeting expectations as of March 13 or improved their grade to passing during remote learning will receive a final grade of “pass.”
High school students will have the choice of earning the grade they had March 13th, continue working through the end of the year to raise their average or select a “PC19,” which is basically a credit with no score, Conley added.
On Friday, Cooper announced schools would continue remote learning through the end of the year in June. He also said there would be new measures in place to protect health when schools reopen for the 2020-21 year, which is scheduled for August.
State Superintendent Mark Johnson said those measures would move schools out of the reactive stage and into the proactive stage. State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis said teachers would continue to get paid through the remainder of the school year.
Among other new guidelines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has recommended that in the initial reopening phase, school desks should be spaced at least 6 feet apart. There should not be any field trips nor school assemblies, and students should eat lunch in their classrooms instead of the cafeteria.
Conley said no students would be held back because of remote learning due to COVID-19. She said there may be jump-start classes, and there will be a way to assess students so they can best serve the students, adding that each child is in different situations while learning at home. The calendar for next year, including the first day of school, could not be set until more direction was provided by the state.
As for the remainder of this school year, Conley said no decision had been made on proms and graduations. These experiences are not just special days for seniors, but part of an entire season.
“We certainly do not want these students to miss out on anything,” she said. “We are going to make sure these students are going to have the memories they deserve.”
Restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic made the meeting a bit of a challenge Thursday. Most board members and staff were spaced in separate offices throughout Central Office, attending the meeting via Zoom videoconferencing. There was even a brief power outage for the attorney attending from his living room.