School board to discuss return of students

WADESBORO — The Anson County School Board of Education will meet for a special meeting on Feb. 9 to discuss the current school re-entry plan.

During the Board’s last monthly meeting on Jan. 25, the Board voted to postpone in-person learning through Feb. 26. The tentative start date would be on March 1.

The Board asked Superintendent Howard McLean to create a new Plan B which will aid in the safe return of students. When K-5 students returned in the Fall, McLean used a three-cohort system to rotate students between in-person learning and virtual classes. He might follow the same plan, but he may also simply make adjustments as the Board is hopeful to bring back students in sixth through twelfth grades.

On Feb. 2, Governor Roy Cooper called on K-12 schools throughout the state to move towards in-person learning.

“Protecting the health and safety of the people in this state, especially our children and our teachers, has been our goal,” Cooper said. “We know school is important for reasons beyond academic instruction…Research done right here in North Carolina tells us that in-person learning is working and that students can be in classrooms safely with the right safety protocols in place.”

Cooper sent a letter to school boards and superintendents addressing the importance of bringing students back in school. The letter states the growing concern of students relying solely on remote learning and how this will negatively impact academics, mental health and food insecurity.

“Since August, at least 90 of our state’s 115 school districts have safely provided in-person instruction for some or all their students,” the letter said. “In fact, based on attendance data more than 750,000 students — 48 percent of the state’s public school student population — were attending school in-person on November 23. Even with the thousands of students and teachers attending school in-person across the state, DHHS has seen few COVID-19 clusters in our public schools.”

Currently, the county has a total of 2,157 COVID-19 cases with 85 of those being active. The Anson County Health Department announced another COVID-related death on Feb. 8, bringing the total to 47.

In one week, the active cases decreased by 45 percent. The week prior, the cases only dropped by about 18 percent. The entire state is seeing a slight decrease in average daily cases.

The school board’s decision was made after press deadline. For an update, check out ansonrecord.com.