Hours before the state named three more Alamance-Burlington Schools with COVID-19 clusters, the board of education heard a proposal for remote teaching quarantined children.
They didn't all love it.
“I guess I’m a little disappointed,” said Patsy Simpson, member of the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education. “It appears what you’re presenting today is not addressing the concerns of those who have reached out to me.”
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If adopted, the plan would allow teachers to decide if their students in quarantine should be able to watch class remotely in real-time or, when possible and if they think it would serve students better, set up remote small group sessions. Otherwise, teachers would keep class materials on Canvas and Google Classroom up to date so students can get their assignments and monitor their email and other messages for student questions.
Other board members were more receptive. Sandy Ellington-Graves said she agreed teachers should have the flexibility to work with students how they think best but said the school system needed to explain that to parents who would be expecting their children to be able to tune into classes.
Individual students would be eligible for this at-home instruction if an ABSS school nurse verifies they have a COVID-19 diagnosis or have been in close contact with someone who has. In cases where students are exposed outside of school, it would be up to their families to report it to a school nurse, who would then report it to their teacher.
More: Complexities of contact tracing: How Alamance-Burlington Schools track COVID and whether it should
The state started the school year allowing no remote schooling other than virtual academies like the new Alamance Virtual School, but now Senate Bill 654 allows for remote teaching when schools are closed for bad weather and for large COVID outbreaks that close classrooms or schools. It also gives districts enough leeway to teach smaller groups of students remotely when they are at home in quarantine. So, ABSS is adapting on the fly as it has many times since the start of the pandemic.
The proposal the board recently considered included plans for when entire classrooms or even entire schools are closed. Superintendent Bruce Benson said that would happen if and when there are too many teachers and staff out to run the school safely. In that case, teachers would have remote classes on a regular schedule and hold remote office hours to take students’ questions. So far that hasn’t happened.
The board did not vote on this plan, but offered feedback. Board members will get the chance to vote on it Sept. 27. It would go into effect on Oct. 4.
There are at least 330 ABSS students in quarantine now, according to the district's COVID dashboard, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services updated its list of COVID clusters, five or more related cases, in schools on Tuesday. There are now six ABSS schools on the list – twice as many as last week.
Cummings High School has a cluster of five students. The ABSS COVID dashboard shows 16 cases including one staff member and 21 students in quarantine.
Grove Park Elementary School has a cluster of five students.
Altamahaw-Ossipee Elementary School has a cluster of seven students. The ABSS dashboard shows 14 cases at the school, including one staff member, and 36 students in quarantine.
Last week ABSS and the state reported five cases at Western Alamance High School, nine at Alexander Wilson and six at R. Homer Andrews elementary schools. The Alamance County Health Department confirmed the cases on Thursday.
Isaac Groves is the Alamance County government watchdog reporter for the Times-News and the USA Today Network. Call or text 919-998-8039 with tips and comments or follow him on Twitter @TNIGroves.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Three more Alamance-Burlington Schools have COVID-19 clusters, school board hears plans to teach children in quarantine
