After state leaders announced Wednesday morning of compromise legislation that allows students to return to daily in-person instruction, Moore County Schools said students in grades six through 12 will start full-time, face-to-face instruction on March 29 after the coronavirus pandemic began one year ago.
“This allows the district time to notify families of changes in bus routes and pick-up/drop-off times for grades 6-12, as well as afford parents with concerns about returning their child to full time instruction the opportunity to work with the school principal,” said the Moore County school district in a statement on social media. “In addition, this start date will allow the majority of our staff, who received their first vaccine through FirstHealth at the end of February and beginning of March, to receive their second vaccine as scheduled prior to the return of grades 6-12.”
Students and staff are still required to wear masks, and social distancing will be at a minimum.
Middle and high school students have been attending in-person classes twice a week, while the other three days have been virtual instruction.
Parents will still have the option of enrolling their children in virtual school. “Our goal is not to force anyone to do something, but it is to give the parents and students a greater degree of choice,” school board member Robert Levy said at the last board of education meeting on March 8.
Currently, students in kindergarten through grade five attend school on a normal schedule. That came back in January. Under the Centers of Disease Control and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, children in this age group are less vulnerable to COVID-19 and can attend face-to-face classes with fewer social distancing requirements than those in grades six-12.
The school district will still be observing Good Friday on April 2, and Spring Break is scheduled for April 5-9.
“Moore County Schools thanks all of our students, parents and staff for your continued patience and understanding over the past year as we all learned to cope and thrive as best we could under these unusual circumstances,” said the school district.
