Dear LNC Families,
As you may be aware, circumstances have changed since we initially communicated our reopening plans to you just over a week ago. These changes compel us to reconsider our decision for reopening. As a reminder, last week when Governor Cooper announced the reopening decision for North Carolina schools, he gave schools the discretion to open under Plan B or Plan C to allow for districts to be responsive to local data and other considerations that affect school operations.
Our Board of Education met last night in a special session to review the various options for reopening given the change in current circumstances. After much thought and consideration, we made the decision to start the 2020-2021 school year under a temporary Plan C for at least the first four weeks of school (through September 11). Plan C utilizes remote learning for grades K-12.
As this situation is ever changing, we will reevaluate this decision on a continuous basis utilizing established metrics to ensure that it is well informed and supported by data. These metrics encompass North Carolina’s current phase, state and local positive test percentages, current hospitalization rates and LNC data once it becomes available, including stakeholder input. Our goal is to move to Plan B as soon as the metrics indicate we can safely do so. At our September 3 board meeting, the board will review this data again and we will notify our families of where we stand.
Please know that we made this difficult decision only after the emerging data and information was carefully examined and deeply discussed and with significant thought to the ramifications this would have on all stakeholders, including our families. One overarching fact that we could not dismiss was new information learned over the past week related to our teachers. In addition to having concerns about student safety and their own health, many of our teachers also have medical conditions that put them at greater risk. With the rate of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and percent of positive tests on the rise in our area, the risk of a shortage of teachers to lead high quality instruction for your children is too great to ignore. We often say our teachers are LNC’s greatest asset, but that assertion is rarely tested. Ultimately, we acted out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our entire community.
Parents can learn more about Plan C in the
Reopening Plan
. Since it employs fully remote learning, those students who chose Independent Learning will now follow Plan C like the rest of their peers. When we shift to Plan B, families will have the choice to opt for Independent Learning again.
My team and I will meet this week to flesh out further plans. You can expect to receive more information soon, including details about the Wednesday Student Seminars, which will offer student support as needed (either virtually or in a small in-person setting), the opportunity for counseling check-ins and parent-teacher meetings. Additionally, we will again host virtual coffee chats the week of August 3 to help our families better understand what to expect under Plan C.
As a preview to this forthcoming information, I can say with certainty that the remote learning experience to which our students will return will be enhanced from that of the fourth quarter when teachers and students alike were suddenly thrust into a remote landscape with no preparation. This summer has afforded our Instructional Technology Facilitators and our teachers the opportunity to develop course curriculums better suited to succeed in a remote setting based on best practice. These techniques and strategies will deliver more engaging instruction and allow for more interactive learning between our students and their teachers. The school is providing tools and resources to better support this virtual learning such as teacher professional development, applications and online programs and equipment including podcasters, tripods and high definition cameras.
Finally, as we said in the initial reopening communication, there are no easy decisions related to this health crisis and we recognize that opinions, preferences and viewpoints differ greatly. Therefore, we know that some of you will not agree with this decision. In spite of that, we ask for your support and faith that, armed with this new information and driven by safety concerns first, we are ultimately making the best choice for the entire LNC community.
Sincerely,
